Mirta Story
by Cupcakedoll
Summary: The adventures of Mirta and the minor fairies during seasons 2 and 3. A little bit of romance, a glimpse of daily life at Alfea, a lot of adventure and magic.
1. Chapter 1

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else. Our story opens sometime during season 2.

It had been a mistake to come back to Cloud Tower, even if it was Lucy's birthday. When Mirta got to the dorm she'd been greeted with, "Drop out of fairy school, loser?"

Inside, Zia was getting cauldron cakes out of the vending machine. She looked around nervously before she waved to Mirta. "Hey Mirt, I don't think you want to hang around here, I mean everyone knows you transferred to Alfea and all…"

Mirta made a face. "Yeah I figured but thanks for the warning. I just came to give this to Lucy. She still in our old room?"

"Lucy didn't say it was her birthday… but then she wouldn't. yeah, still in one-oh-five, go on up."

"Thanks!" Mirta smiled and dashed up the stairs. Number 105 had Lucy's name on it but no other one. She didn't have a new roommate? Mirta knocked. 'Lucy?"

"Oh it's you."

Mirta held out her present. "Happy birthday."

"Um." Lucy clearly had to make her mouth work to say, "Thanks. You want to come in?"

"Ok. For a minute."

The room hadn't changed, still dark and dreary as ever. Lucy's stuff had spread into the half of the room that used to be Mirta's—a potted nightshade on her desk, a half-rolled poster for Drake Skales in concert and five Hex Girls cds on the floor.

"How's it going at fairy school?"

"I like it!" Mirta exclaimed, then tried to tone it down. "I'm finally passing potions and I joined the magical arts club. We all hang out, me and Flora and them."

Lucy opened her present. The purple bottles and soaps only looked a little out of place in the dark room. "What's this stuff? Merlin's Magic hair care? Get this at the school store?"

Mirta ducked and blushed. "Downtown. Stella swears by this stuff. Smell it, I love the 'night garden' scent. Better than pink."

Lucy sniffed and made a face. "Look, thanks for the thought and all but sweet smells are so last year and if any of my friends find out you're here…"

"Ok I get it." Mirta backed out, trying not to show how much that hurt. "I better get back anyway. Bye."

She hurried back downstairs, very carefully not crying, and paused for a minute to put some coins in the machine. Cauldron cakes, gravestone cookies and chocolate newts. She'd missed witchy snacks!

On the streets of Magic, where nobody would recognize her as 'that witch who goes to Alfea' Mirta could find a corner to hide in and wipe her eyes. Her heart hurt. Her heart hurt and she kept hearing Lucy's words. Mirta sobbed.

Just then she heard a little cry. "Meee!"

"Huh?" Mirta looked up. She was standing on a corner off the street, near a bridge. Where was the noise coming from?"

"Meeeeee!"

Under the bridge. Mirta climbed over the rail and jumped down into mud. Was something in the river making it? A water banshee? They didn't come into the city!

"Mee."

"Hello?" Then Mirta saw a brown cloth bag at the edge of the water. It squirmed a little. Mirta swallowed hard and picked it up.

"Meaaaa."

Didn't _sound_ like a water banshee. The last tear dropped off Mirta's cheek onto the bag as she opened it. She saw a bundle of wet fur with big eyes. "Mee!"

"Oh!" It was shivering. Mirta tucked the muddy bundle under her jacket. It shivered against her ribs as she ran for the bus stop.

Bloom was chewing on her pencil. _"Write an essay on the seven noble trees of the magical realms, including history and uses."_ She was stumped.

"Here, chew on this." Flora offered a carrot.

Bloom took a bite and looked at her books again. She heard a loud snore.

"Stella!"

"Wha..?"

Flora threw a carrot at her. Bloom giggled.

"Ah, that was hard work. Study break time!" Stella regarded the carrot. "Flora, can't you grow a cake tree?"

"Stella, these are due next week! You asked me to keep you on target."

"I'll get to it after dinner. What's Musa doing?" And since everybody really wanted to be distracted they all went to peek in Musa's door.

Musa was sitting in pretzel position, floating a foot above the floor. Five instruments drifted in the air around her and played a slow tune.

"Wow." Bloom whispered.

As they watched, Musa and the instruments landed. She opened her eyes and looked at the clock. "Half an hour! Record! How's the essays going you guys?"

Bloom and Stella groaned.

Just then they heard a voice from outside, "Hello? Anybody home? Flora?"

Stella was nearest so she got the door. "Hi Mirta, come on in. Ah, your shoes!"

Mirta spent about one second looking at her muddy shoes. "Look, I found this thing in a stream on the witch side of town. It's cold, what should I do?" Mirta let the little creature tumble into her lap.

Bloom said, "It's a kit… oh."

"A kitto?"

"A kitten I thought, but on Earth they only have _four_ legs."

Flora took over, "Oh, she's cold and dirty! I've got a seed for this, Stella can you help me? Musa, get some water."

"Sure."

Bloom rubbed the kitten's head with her finger. "Poor thing. He was in the water?"

"Mmhm. I don't know how it got there. Maybe someone…" Just thinking of it made Mirta's eyes fill with tears.

Bloom gasped. "How awful! Wait, I have that bed Kiko didn't want…"

Stella and Flora clasped their hands together and joined their powers. The seed in Flora's hand changed into a bright yellow flower. Mirta washed the little thing off in water—it said "Mee!" in an angry way the whole time—and they put it in Kiko's old bed on top of the warm sunflower.

"Job well done!" Stella announced, watching the little creature stretch all six paws, two at a time.

"Mee!"

"What does it eat?"

Stella offered her carrot.

"Not that!" Everybody said pretty much together and pretty much all laughing.

"I, ah, think I'll take it to see Miss Ofelia." Mirta carefully scooped up flower, bed and animal.

Bloom held the door, "Hey can I come with you?"

"Sure."

They walked through the halls. It was after class, so there were only a few students around, mostly groups coming from the bus or aeroslam practice or the library. Mirta listened as conversations drifted past them.

Silicya was saying into her cel phone, "…and then it turned purple and bubbled over, and everyone else's were ready to drink! I was so embarrassed! Wait hang on, babe. Bloom! What've you got?"

"It's Mirta's… we're not sure what it is…"

As usual, Mirta suddenly couldn't think of anything to say.

"Oh, how cute! I don't know what it is; it's not from my realm. See ya!" and then back into her phone, "What? Princess Bloom and that witch girl…"

"Mya?"

The little animal's eyes opened wide, black pupils opening until its eyes were solid black. Then it blinked and looked normal again.

"Bloom!"

"Hi, Katy Spika."

"Going to the aeroslam court? Layla's teaching everybody this version from Tides and oh what have you got there? How darling! It looks kinda like me!"

And Mirta had to smile, because as Katy said that her tail uncurled and hung out the bottom of her tunic.

"Oh no! My tail!"

Katy ran off, trying to catch her unruly appendage. Mirta and Bloom looked at each other. It would be rude to laugh. They managed not to, for a whole ten seconds.

They reached the hospital wing without running into anyone else. Miss Ofelia was just seeing off another fairy who thanked the nurse profusely and looked very relieved.

"Miss Ofelia, Mirta found this little guy in a stream. Do you know what it eats or, uh, what it is?"

The nurse pushed up her glasses. "How interesting. Definitely feline… six legs… for an exact identification we'll have to contact the Magix Zoological Garden. Or… Palladium? Come take a look."

From the hospital appeared their teacher Professor Palladium… and Professor Avalon.

Bloom went all melty. Mirta wasn't even looking at her, and she could _tell_ Bloom was going all melty.

Palladium smiled and petted the kitten. It said "mya" and nibbled his fingers. "It may be some kind of Atlantean firecat. How interesting."

"Fascinating." Said Avalon.

"Professor, do you know what it eats?"

"Universal creature formula should do… but we've missed the last bus haven't we? Avalon my friend, I don't suppose you'd perform a fetch spell for our favorite students?"

Mirta thought Professor Avalon didn't look very excited, but he nodded. "Certainly. If we can find some space?"

There were a few empty rooms in the hospital, so they went in one of those with Miss Ofelia peeking in the doorway.

Avalon crouched down and drew two circles on the floor. "This is a basic matter transference spell. You'll be learning it in your junior year, Bloom. You can tell Stella it's an 'instant shopping spell' but you do need money."

Bloom blushed. "Uh, professor… loan?"

Palladium already had his wallet out. He dropped some coins in one of the circles.

"Pay you back tomorrow!"

Avalon said four short words. The empty circle lit up and flickered quickly through colors and vague shapes that went by too quickly to be seen. Then the flickering stopped and something appeared in the circle. Bottles. And the money in the other circle disappeared.

Palladium applauded. "Perfectly done! And this should be enough to feed the baby until you can get to the store in the morning. Mirta, were you planning to keep him in your dorm?"

"Yes if it's allowed."

Miss Ofelia answered, "I don't see why not. Why don't you go get him settled in?"

"Mmhm. I will. Bloom, you coming?"

"Later ok, Mirta? Professor Avalon, I wanted to ask you something? Do you have time?"

"For you Bloom, always."

Mirta made a face at their retreating backs and hurried her charge to her room. The kitten—calling it 'kitten' seemed as good as anything else—said 'mya' a lot while Mirta settled its bed and warming flower in a laundry basket to keep them contained. She looked at the bottles of universal creature formula. "Shake well, break seal…" she read the bottle under her breath, and tried it. The kitten grabbed the bottle with all six paws and sucked away. The sides of the bottle curved in. Mirta stared in wonder. Then it said, "Mya." Again and went to sleep.

Well that was easy. Mirta smiled and rested her chin on the table next to the basket. The little animal's ribs moved when it breathed. Maybe it would grow wings, or turn out to be some special magical being or something.

But it wouldn't do to show up tomorrow without her homework, after the teachers had helped her out! Mirta very quietly got out her books.


	2. Chapter 2

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 2

Mirta Story part 2

The time was "just a little late for morning class" and the spiral stairs down from the dormitory were packed with rushing girls. Total traffic jam.

Someone said, "Look! Priscilla's doing it!"

Mirta looked up quick.

Up top, Priscilla had climbed over the railing. She called on her power—everybody felt the hum in the air—and jumped.

Everybody cheered.

The girl's short red hair stood straight up as she fell slowly. Her body began to glow, and then was hidden in a tornado of leaves. When they vanished Priscilla was hovering inches above the pool at the bottom of the stairs. She held up her feet to show off dry shoes, crowed in triumph, and flew off towards her class.

People were laughing and talking about Priscilla's show as they jostled their way to the classrooms. Mirta heard at least three fairies swear they were going to try it tomorrow. The trick was to time your fall and transformation so you didn't hit the water. That was probably why there was a pool there in the first place; in case somebody really blew it and hit the bottom _without_ wings.

Of course Katy Spika thought it was there just so she could chase the ornamental goldfish.

Pop quiz in ancient runes! Mirta looked at her paper in dismay. She couldn't remember the difference between this squiggly one and that squiggly one, and why were there five more spiky ones than she remembered? Aaaah! She snuck a glance around. Everybody else looked similarly panicked.

She was trying to remember which was the _Quor_ rune and which the _Zeta_ rune when someone by the door giggled. Then Sandra said, "Um, Mirta?"

Oh no.

Mirta looked down and there he was, her kitten, pacing up the aisle between desks with his tail up looking pleased as punch.

"Hexen! How did you get out?"

Hexen said, "Mya." And settled down for a nap under Mirta's desk. Mirta groaned.

When class let out, Mirta picked up her cat and draped him over her shoulders. He was about half again as long as an earth cat, so he worked well as a scarf. Ever since he'd gotten his six legs working, Hexen had been escaping from her room and following Mirta to class.

Nobody really knew what exactly Hexen was, not even the people at the Magix zoo. It had caused a small sensation, an unknown animal showing up in central Magix! Mirta sort of hoped they'd never find out where Hexen was from, because if they did he'd have to be returned to his natural habitat.

In the cafeteria Mirta grabbed a tray and pointed to what she wanted. The food here was way better than at Cloud Tower! She wanted to sit with Flora, but the "Winx Club" table was piled with books and Musa and Stella were having a lively and loud debate. Mirta decided not to even join in that, and headed for her usual seat at the normal people table.

She was greeted with, "Anastasia fell asleep in first period and Wizgiz turned her ears into rabbit ears. It took her an hour to notice."

"Hi, Ortensia." Mirta said, smiling, and sat down.

"But there's more!" The fairy in pink said dramatically, "It's finished! This year's edition of Ortensia's Report on the Top Twenty Fairies to Watch!"

"So where am I on it?" Sandra asked.

"You're not. Sorry babe."

"Hmmf! Ok, let's see!"

Ortensia unfurled the scroll and she, Mirta, Sandra, Kimmy and Kylie leaned to get a look.

Ortensia's Report- Top Twenty Fairies to Watch:

Bloom, princess of Sparx (! 'nuff said)

Layla, princess of Tides (mysterious transfer student & has a pixie)

Stella, princess of Solaria (large, influential kingdom & has a pixie)

Mikaella (Miky) princess of Ember (somewhat influential kingdom)

Musa, princess of Harmonic Nebula (only technically a princess)

Amaryl, duchess of Greden (and witchy girl)

Katy Spika, ambassador from Mau (chases birds in public)

Mirta (witch! at Alfea!)

Kylie (most scantily clad fairy)

Ortensia (editor of Alfea student news)

Flora of Linphea (has a pixie)

Tecna of Bionic realm (best hacker & has a pixie)

Selene (queen of the aeroslam court)

Silicya (biggest gossip in school)

Alice (heir to the Epona pegasus stables)

Priscilla (most likely to get in a fight with Cloud Tower)

Karina (straight As in spell writing)

Lavigne (straight As in potionology)

Eleanor (straight As in charms)

Kylie giggled, clearly liking her mention.

"Silicya isn't a gossip, she's nice."

"The list is written in stone!"

Hexen chose that moment to jump down from Mirta's shoulders and start chewing on one corner of the list. There was a general, "Hey!"

Mirta was heading back to her room for the evening when she was pounced on—almost literally—by a fairy.

"Hi, Katy Spika." She said warily. From her shoulder Hexen meowed a warmer welcome.

"Mirta! I had an idea. You want to know where your kitty comes from, right?"

Mirta nodded.

"I found this spell, it's from the ancient past before Mau split into different kingdoms. It _transforms a person into a cat_. You could just ask where he's from and if he wants to go back!"

"Is that safe? Wizgiz hasn't taught us full-body transformation yet."

"Sure! Queen Diana invented it for her best friend; she'd never have tried anything dangerous! It only lasts for ten minutes. Shall we give it a try? Come on, let's!"

"Well… ok! Let's try it!" Mirta answered in a burst of adventurous spirit. "I don't have a roommate, we could do it in my room. Or do we need ingredients?"

"Just catnip." Katy held up the bottle.

Of course by the time they got to Mirta's room she wasn't sure this was such a good idea, but Katy didn't notice and just started shaking out a rough circle of dried catnip on the floor. Hexen sniffed at it interestedly and Mirta scooped him up before he could roll in it. "No, Hexen. Magic circles are not a toy."

"Hey lil six-legs, didn't your mama tell you to Just Say No To Catnip?" Katy Spika giggled. "We'll do catnip later ok?"

"Mrow."

"Um, Katy why don't you just-"

"Ok! You stand here. Close your eyes." Katy closed her own eyes and shook out her hands, getting ready. "I'll say the spell and then when I tell you, jump as high as you can. Ok?"

"Ok…"

"Here we go!

_Feline soul that hides within_

_Come thou out and become skin_

_Transform my friend, as quick as that, _

_Into the likeness of a cat!_ And… Jump!"

Mirta jumped. She felt like the room spun, like she was going upside down or sideways, and it took a long time before she landed on her feet. And hands. "Wow."

"Mrow?" Mirta heard. Except that she also heard, "Mom?"

It took a minute to get used to being so much smaller. The bed was huge. Mirta looked at her paws and tried to turn to get a look at her tail when Hexen landed on her. He was purring madly. "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom."

"It wir-orked." Katy said smugly. She came over and touched noises with Hexen. "See? It's me."

Katy Spika was a fluffy tan colored cat with big ears and big teeth. Mirta was white with black and orange patches, as far as she could tell.

"Mo-om." Hexen said happily.

"Can you say anything else?"

"Catnip?"

Katy Spika laughed by wiggling her whiskers. "No catnip. Why did you come to Magix? Are you lost from your home?"

"I'm on a quest, mew! It's very important. Then I got into some trouble and got thrown in the river. And you saved me! Thank-mew!"

"A quest? For what?"

"Ball!" Hexen yelled, and pounced on it. Mirta and Katy both pounced on him. After a tussel Katy remembered to ask, "What's your important quest?"

"It's a secret. Can I stay with you until I find it? With the fish and catnip and ball and fake mice? Please? Please? Please?"

"Of course you can." Mirta said.

Katy was more excited. "A secret? Tell me! Or I'll bite your tail!"

"Go ahead and try!"

They raced around. Mirta joined in because it seemed like the thing to do. Then a minute later the room started spinning and Mirta said, "I think the spell's wearing off! Back up everybodyyyyyyy!" and she was a girl again, sitting on the floor feeling dizzy. Hexen was surprised by the sudden change and puffed up.

Katy Spika jumped up and turned back into a girl. She immediately put her hand up to feel her ears. "They changed back! They never stay human…" Two feline ears popped up through her hair. She sighed.

Mirta giggled.

"You have a cat with a quest. A secret quest."

"Yeah."

"Well? Isn't that great?"

"I suppose so." Mirta said, because it wasn't her nature to be loudly excited. Hexen crawled into her lap and rolled over so all six paws waved in the air, and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 3

Mirta slid into her seat in Professor Palladium's class. The teacher was writing on the board. Miss Faragonda came in and the two adults talked while the students strained to hear. Finally Palladium clapped his hands and turned to his class.

"Students, who can tell me something about shadow imps?"

Since that was _not_ what he'd been writing about, a stir went through the class. Kylie raised her hand. "Shadow imps are created spontaneously by high levels of magic. They are not living creatures, but bits of people's shadows infused by their worst attitude. They run around breaking things."

Palladium nodded. "And..?"

Alice said, "Shadow imps can also be summoned by witches."

"Good. And what's the best way to deal with them, Selene?"

"Destroy them." Selene flipped a blue pigtail. "They're not _alive_ so who cares? The shadow just goes back to whoever it came off of."

"Very good. Today we're going to have a special class—dealing with some shadow imps that are attacking a suburb to the east of Magix."

The class erupted with a mixture of cheers and questions. Mirta heard Sandra say, "Do we all have to go?" And then someone else said, "But Professor—Bloom and them aren't here!"

The headmistress faced the class and raised her hands. "Now, girls! This is what I've been worried about. It is true that Bloom and her friends are talented fairies, but they are not the only talented fairies at this school. You must all learn to believe in yourselves."

Ortensia, sitting next to Mirta, twirled her hair around her finger and singsonged, "Yeah well, if I had the dragonfire…"

Palladium hadn't heard that. He said, "Volunteers, for a little bit of adventure and a lot of extra credit?"

Hands came up, some instantly, some slowly. Mirta hadn't been going to volunteer but… extra credit. She could really use the extra credit. She raised her hand.

About half the class had volunteered. Palladium nodded. "Volunteers, meet me at the front gate in twenty minutes. Everyone else, you've got the rest of the period off."

When Mirta arrived at the front gate Priscilla was already transformed and sitting on top of the archway. Selene was climbing the gate without transforming. Katy Spika was looking up at them, shading her eyes with one hand and eating a tuna sandwich with the other. Lolina had brought a picnic basket. Kimmy whispered to Mirta, "I think Priscilla's just trying to get higher on the top twenty fairies list."

Mirta shrugged and smiled.

"Ready to go?"

"Yes. I told Hexen to stay in my room. I hope I'm any use… I can't even fly."

Kimmy blinked. "Hey, I never thought of it before but why can't you? Witches can fly."

Mirta shrank. "Only if they can summon a wisperian crystal. And I can't."

"Crystal summoning is second-year." Said a voice.

"Hi Alice."

Alice was the most perfect fairy Mirta knew. Perfect skin, perfect dusky hair, perfect clothes.

"I have a cousin who's a witch." Alice explained.

"And you still talk to her?" Lolina asked.

"For about five minutes at a time until she starts going on about goody-goody fairies." Alice rolled her eyes.

"Mirta, you're the only witch who can have a whole conversation with anybody. Why is that?" Lolina said, putting her arm around Mirta's shoulders.

Mirta shrugged and ducked away a little. "I don't know."

Priscilla saved her by waving and jumping down from the arch. "Our ride's here."

A big dimension ship, bus-sized, touched down just outside the gate. Palladium opened the hatch and waved to the fairies, who filed inside.

"Just a short ride. Fasten your seatbelts!"

The ship landed in a field that had, until recently, been growing corn. Most of the plants had been torn up and thrown around. Someone had also been throwing cow pies around the field.

Professor Palladium motioned his students to investigate.

Priscilla sighed. "It's too late to revive these plants. What a shame."

"I can definitely sense dark magic." Lolina said.

"Shadow imps like to hide in dark places, like mice. They're probably in the forest, just out of sight." Katy's tail popped up from under her skirt and twitched interestedly. "They'll come out soon. They can smell fairy magic."

There was a well-timed rustle from the forest.

"They can?" That was Kimmy.

Selene gave her a look. "Don't get scared, get even!" She spread her arms and called on her power. Her trademark blue sweats vanished, replaced by a stylish beaded top and little shorts. She stretched her wings and yelled, "Well come on, everybody!"

Mirta watched with a little bit of jealousy as her friends transformed, Priscilla in a swirl of leaves, Alice with her smoky hair flying. Katy jumped, flipped in midair and came down in her fairy form. Lolina's floating rings appeared around her arms and waist. Kimmy, completely without wanting to, upstaged everybody. She called out, "Tempora Charmix!" and magic glittered at her chest and waist.

But there was no time to stare, because the bushes were rustling harder and red eyes were starting to glint in the forest. Then suddenly a whole crowd of shadow imps were attacking! Mirta shrieked and summoned handfuls of magic, throwing them at the imps to keep from being overwhelmed.

Priscilla, in midair, pointed and a hedge of fireflowers sprouted. She guided it into a semicircle around her friends, protecting them from being totally swarmed. Katy was delightedly pouncing from one imp to another, landing on them so they collapsed into little puffs of smoke.

Lolina was summoning glowing rings and throwing them, Frisbee-style. She also managed to stomp an imp under her foot.

One popped up in front of Mirta. It said, "Don't like you! Don't like you don't like you don't…" Mirta gathered her courage and blasted it with energy.

"People's grouches shouldn't run around by themselves!" Alice said. She was hovering, out of reach of any imps, and throwing magical feathers like miniature spears. "Mirta look out!"

Mirta turned just in time. A half dozen imps were sneaking up on her. She sent a wave of power at them but they ducked.

Kimmy landed next to Mirta and pointed at the imps. Suddenly the shadow imps were moving in slow motion.

"Thanks. I think I can handle them now."

"I'll help. Um, erase from history." Kimmy pointed and an imp fizzed out of existence.

Mirta took care of the rest, hitting them with enough power that she felt breathless. It was tiring using so much magic without a wisperian crystal!

"How are we doing?" Mirta couldn't see over the fireflower hedge. Kimmy grabbed Mirta around the waist and lifted her up for a better view. The good guys appeared to have won. Lolina had a bunch of imps captured and Selene was happily dispatching them with her sword. Alice was talking to Palladium, who waited by the ship, and Katy was fixing her hair.

"There are a few left." Priscilla reported, "They'll come out when—aaaah! What is that?"

It was a giant imp, big as a house, with lots of legs. Alice got there first, throwing a whole handful of sharp feathers. They didn't even slow the huge thing down. "Professor!"

Kimmy pointed. "Erase from history."

The ground shook. Sudden wind howled past them. Everybody fell down. The monster disappeared and Kimmy fainted.

"Kimmy!" Mirta caught her friend, mostly, enough that she didn't get hurt when they went down in a heap.

Palladium rushed forward to check on Kimmy as everyone else gathered around.

"Professor, is she all right?"

"She'll be fine. She just used up all her power at once. We should all get back though, so Kimmy can be seen by Nurse Ophelia."

Priscilla was still in the air. She said, "I can see some more imps, Professor."

Selene punched the palm of her other hand. "Take Kimmy home, we'll clean up here and be right behind you!"

"Can we?" Katy was kneading the air eagerly.

Palladium considered that as he scooped Kimmy up in his arms. "All right. But don't leave the property, and call if you have any trouble."

The girls presented their cel phones. Palladium nodded and carried the sleeping Kimmy into the ship. Lolina helped settle the girl into her seat and get her seatbelt on. The ship took off, Palladium waving from the front window.

"Ok, let's finish taking out the trash!" Priscilla said, rubbing her hands together to gather energy.

Mirta found herself grinning. It was a LOT more exciting with no teacher around.

Selene pointed, "Lolina, Mirta, you go that way, we'll go around here. Alice, keep a lookout ok?"

"Sure." Alice fluttered her wings and took off.

Mirta and Lolina ducked down and crawled through the remains of the crops, sneaking up on the remaining shadow imps. It wasn't hard. The little monsters constantly muttered the grouchy thoughts that had created them.

Lolina whispered, "Hurry, or Selene will beat us."

Mirta wouldn't mind that. She could take or leave the fighting. She started to call up some power, feeling the wind around her change slightly as it answered her call.

A cloud came in front of the sun.

Suddenly a voice said, "Well, look what we have here. Little fairies with nobody to look after them."

Mirta got up quick. Three witches were standing on air on the other side of the field, looking down at them. Mirta recognized them. Juniors, a year older than she was.

"Mirta, you know them?" Lolina asked quietly. The fairies gathered together, Priscilla and Alice in the air, Selene on the ground. Katy's tail was straight out and puffed like a bottlebrush. Her hair was standing straight out too.

When everyone was close enough Mirta said, "Nixie and Electra. Water and electricity talent. The other one is Megara, she's…"

"I'm your worst nightmare." Megara summoned her wisperian crystal and chanted, "All dark thoughts from miles around, join me in this shadowed ground!"

A crowd of shadow imps appeared, surrounding the fairies.


	4. Chapter 4

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 4

Mirta cowered behind her friends. They didn't notice. The six of them were surrounded by a crowd of shadow imps, and three gloating witches.

Priscilla waved her hand and a long fireflower vine flowed out around the fairies, burning up most of the shadow imps. Out of breath she panted, "Do something, they'll summon more!"

Katy Spika hissed and launched herself into the air, bouncing off a tree and diving at the witches with her claws out.

Electra slapped her away with a bolt of electricity.

"Katy!" Lolina yelled. She threw a handful of glowing rings, and Alice followed it with a shower of sharp-edged feathers.

Mirta had her phone out. She hit the button for the emergency number at Alfea, but the screen was dark.

The witch Electra waggled her finger at them. "No calling for help. We're going to bring you back to Cloud Tower—as toads! That will impress Icy."

"Just you try it!" Selene yelled back. She summoned her two swords. Katy rolled over and bounced to her feet to attack from the other direction.

Alice landed behind Mirta. "Can we beat them?"

"No!" Mirta answered, "They're too strong! We need to run away!"

"I'll get Katy and—"

Too late. Nixie said, "Cats don't like water, do they?" And summoned a stream of water all over the fairy. It was the same spell the Magix fire department used, and Katy was knocked flat by the force. She struggled to push herself up, coughing, from the puddle around her.

Megara pointed at the downed fairy. A bolt of light shot from her finger and Katy disappeared. Megara held up a crystal orb with a toad inside it. The toad had a furry tail.

"Oh no, Katy!"

Selene jumped in with her sword and Alice dived from above. She shoved Nixie, taking her to the ground. But Electra threw lightning and both fairies fell. Alice managed to grab Nixie and get the water-witch electrocuted too, but it wasn't good enough. Megara captured them both, as two bluish toads.

Mirta was, well, running away. It seemed like the smartest thing to do.

Lolina certainly thought so. She was a good ten feet ahead of Mirta, the words, "I don't wanna be a toad!" trailing behind her.

Well they'd only be toads for as long as it took their teachers to figure out what had happened and track down the witches and that… might take a while.

Mirta looked up. Priscilla was flying above her, backwards, waving her hands—she was doing magic while flying. Mirta glanced backwards and saw the fireflower hedge had grown twenty feet high, so fast it had wrapped around the witches. It was an impressive spell.

But then there was a crack and Nixie summoned water again. The hedge fell apart and Priscilla dropped out of the sky, back in her normal clothes.

Mirta turned back, but Priscilla waved her on, "Go find a cop and get us rescued!" she yelled, adding to herself, "can't believe I couldn't freakin'…"

The witches appeared in front of the fleeing fairies, Nixie so close that Lolina ran into her, tripped, and fell flat. She wailed in pain, until Megara zapped her into the bubble.

"Hey, it is you! Hey Meg, that's the witch who went to Alfea. Think you can turn her back into a pumpkin?"

Mirta looked down. She was wearing the pumpkin shirt again. Everybody thought it was weird that it was still her favorite shirt. But she didn't want to be a pumpkin again.

"We could just leave her here." Electra suggested. "This one's such a loser Icy won't care if we toadify her."

Megara landed. Smirking, she held out her hand. "Hey Mirta, Why don't you come back with us? It's not like you'll ever amount to anything at fairy school."

Nixie sniggered.

Mirta knew she should have agreed, and then run off to find someone to un-toad her friends. But she was mad by now. Really mad. She held out her hands and muttered, "Crystal of wisperia, hear me now, help me free my friends…"

"Like _that's_ going to work."

"You can't use witch powers that way."

The magic wasn't working. Nothing was happening. But Mirta yelled out, "You're wrong! Witch powers _can_ be used for good!"

The wisperian crystal appeared—and immediately shattered.

The witches shrieked and fell back and glittering fragments filled the air. Mirta, panicking, still reached into the storm. Her crystal! What had gone wrong? She'd never heard of a crystal breaking before!

Then Mirta heard music and the crystal shards were shining so bright that she lost track of things for a minute.

The first thing Mirta became aware of was a strange movement at her back. Felt nice. But strange. She looked.

And fell to the ground in shock. She had wings! Big pink… the same color the wisperian crystal had been… wings just like a fairy's! She was dressed like a fairy too, in pink and smoke-gray. The first coherent thought Mirta had was that pink wasn't the color she would've chosen.

"How did she do that?" One of the witches hissed at the others, "Can witches do that?"

That brought Mirta back to reality. Reality was suddenly looking better than it had a few minutes ago. Mirta stood up and stretched her new wings. "I don't know… but I know what I'm going to do next!"

She gathered a handful of energy and shaped it into a ball. Then turned the ball inside out. The witches ducked as Mirta flung the crackling black sphere at them. It exploded, sending the witches tumbling and breaking the spell over the fairies. They fell to the ground, automatically feeling their hair and bodies to make sure they were no longer toads.

Lolina was the first to get up. She ran over to Mirta, with a slightly hopping motion. "Oh my thumbs, I missed my thumbs! Mirta? That you?"

"Mmhm!"

"Eeeeee! You look so cool! What'd we miss?"

"Um… I don't know…"

Alice interrupted them. "Hey, those witches aren't giving up!"

The witches were so mad there was practically steam coming out their ears. Electra said, "Now we have to catch them again. What a pain."

Priscilla turned towards her. Sparks crackled from the fairy's red hair and a tree burst out of the ground. In seconds Electra was completely buried, invisible behind the branches. Her voice yelled out, "What?! Stupid tree, I'll blast you!"

"No you won't." Priscilla coughed. "S'a rubber tree. This time I did it right." She collapsed, but with a happy expression.

Electra's yelling spiraled up the scale as she found she couldn't break free. The other two turned to help her.

Alice whispered to Selene, and the two fairies took to the air. Together they blasted Nixie. A weird cloud of dust surrounded the witch and she fell to the ground, coughing. "Water!" She rasped.

"What was that?" Katy asked.

Alice twirled a perfect lock of hair around her finger. "She's not the only one who can use spells from the fire department. That's Deed's Desiccation Spell. She'll be all right if someone throws her in a swimming pool before tonight."

"Ready to join Advanced Disaster Management class with us?" Selene added. She sounded cheerful but she had her sword out. There was one witch left after all.

Katy said, "Well I could pounce on her…"

"No, let me try." Said Mirta. She had an idea, and she felt like it would work. She had so much magic now. "Hey witch, you want to turn me back into a pumpkin? Try it!"

Megara tried it.

Mirta shaped air into a shield and threw the spell back. Megara found herself trapped in a bubble, dodging her transformation spell as it bounced around. It hit, turned her into a pumpkin, bounced again and turned her back into herself.

Mirta sat down next to the trapped, still-transforming Megara.

"Elegant." Was Alice's opinion.

Lolina snapped her phone closed. "O-kay! Magix's finest are on the way. Are they gonna be harmless for ten minutes?"

"Sure." Said Selene, sword still in hand.

Mirta didn't bother to stand up, just crawled away from Megara and sat stretching her wings. Wings. She had wings. They were bigger than her friends' wings, but not a lot. Mirta tugged her new skirt, which felt just like silk though she knew from class that a fairy's transformed clothes were made of pure magic and a reflection of the fairy's beautiful soul… or that was how Miss Faragonda had put it. So Mirta's soul was apparently rose pink, with really cool glittery black sleeves. And a necklace made from one of the pieces of her wisperian crystal.

Katy shook herself and changed her clothes back, then used both hands to squash her kitty ears down. "Thanks for rescuing us!"

"You really saved the day." Selene added.

Katy pounced over that to say what she'd really been aiming for: "You transformed! I didn't know witches could grow wings!"

It was clearly a question. The other fairies listened intently.

"I don't know." Mirta said. She tugged one wing around to get a good look, until it became uncomfortable. Then she leaned on her hands and fluttered as hard as she could. For a minute nothing happened.

"You don't know?" Lolina repeated. "Um, Mirt…"

The magic kicked in and Mirta's body went weightless. She was suddenly six feet in the air. She shrieked and fell, laughing.

The ship from Alfea appeared in the sky, along with a police hoover. Professor Palladium was first out. "What in the world happened? I barely got Kimmy to the infirmary when the police called! What's all this about witches? Is that Mirta?"

Back at Alfea Palladium graded the girls' performance, giving them all As for quick thinking under fire and creative spellcasting. Then he told them to go get a snack and a rest. The first thing they all did was to go check on Kimmy, who was back in her own room confined to bed rest and cups of magic-restoring tea. The other fairies quickly grabbed mugs and sat down to give Kimmy the full story. Mirta fled before they got to the part about her.

Mirta went to her room to give her cat a hug. It helped when she was confused. Hexen was delighted to see her, leaping onto her shoulder and purring in her ears. He stayed up there while Mirta went to the cafeteria and got two burgers and a milkshake. She was starving!

She'd just finished when Livy skated up. "Mirta! The headmistress would like to see you when you're done eating."

"Ok. I'll go right up." Mirta put her dishes in the kitchen and washed her hands and headed up to Miss Faragonda's office. Hexen trailed along behind her.

She was a little surprised to see Miss Faragonda's desk piled with books. Both school pixies were there too, Concorda carrying a stack of books through a miniportal back to the library, and Discorda sitting on a pile of books from the Cloud Tower library.

Mirta bobbed a curtsey. "Hello Miss Discorda."

Discorda nodded regally.

"Hello Mirta." Said the headmistress. "I've just heard from the police. The three witches who attacked you have been arrested for magical mischief and misuse of transformation spells. They've been released into Miss Griffin's custody and sentenced to four months of detention cleaning out the potion laboratory. Discorda brought over some books from the Cloud Tower library."

Mirta took a step back. Some of those books could bite! "Um, did you figure it out? How I could transform I mean?"

"Not really, but we did find something. Come and look." Miss Faragonda held a book open. It was an ancient book, the dark blue leather cover cracking with age. The pages had gone brown, but Mirta saw a series of drawings: a witch summoning a wisperian crystal, the crystal shattering, and then the witch appearing as a fairy. The text was just squiggles.

"Yeah! It was just like that!" Mirta pointed and her finger slid on a layer of preservation spells. "What does it say? Can you read it?"

Miss Faragonda adjusted her glasses. "It is quite surprising. According to this book, which dates back before the witches known as the Three Ancestors were alive, at one time all female magical beings were able to manifest wings and protective clothing. Fairy and witch powers are very similar, as you've learned here at Alfea."

"Except witch powers are mean." Mirta said, then blushed in case it wasn't a polite thing to say. "I mean, have more aggressive applications." That was the way Professor Avalon had put it, in magical philosophy class. He'd also said that there was a theory that the two sorts of magic users were supposed to work together to protect the balance of the world. Probably no witches anywhere believed in that theory.

Hexen meowed, bringing Mirta out of her memory. "So witches and fairies are kind of the same? Wa! Am I turning into a fairy?! 'Cause that'd be weird!"

The headmistress chuckled. "I don't think so. Perhaps you are discovering powers that modern witches have forgotten—or even lost. It's only a theory, but some historians believe the Ancestors created the conflict between witches and fairies. There are no records of how our rivalry began so I suppose it could be possible. I'm afraid that's all I have for you right now Mirta, but Miss Griffin and I are going to keep looking for an explanation. Are you going to be all right?"

Mirta considered the question. "Yes. I was scared when I didn't know what was going on, but it's all right. And now I can fly with everybody! Um, if I can figure out how to do it again."

"You will. Just find the place in your head where you were before."

"Hmm…"

Livy sailed in the door at top speed. "Faragonda! The book of fairies, it's changed again!"

"I'd better go and see. You can stay and look at the books if you want, but I don't think there's anything else in them." Faragonda stood up, made a quick gesture, and vanished without any glowy magical overflow.

Mirta picked up another of the ancient-looking books and read: "The Artes of Wytches are Moste Bayneful, accomplished with Foul Components suche as the Bones of the Dead and Poysounous Plantes." She stopped and squinted at the text. "Maybe I need a stronger translation spell."

"Letterflies." Livy explained. "They fly around and land in words. They went extinct when someone decided proper spelling is important. It's true, ask Chatta."

Mirta didn't believe that.

She shut the book and wandered out onto Miss F's balcony.

"So what are you going to do, Mirta?"

Mirta looked sideways at the eager pixy. Just for fun she said, "Oh, dinner, homework, maybe a movie…"

"Ah?!"

"Meow." Said Hexen, positively smirking.

Mirta thought about what Miss Faragonda had said. _Find the place in your head… _Find out if there really had been witches with wings, back in ancient times. Maybe witches didn't have to be mean and fight with the fairies, they just thought they did. What if someone could prove that? There would always be girls like Megara who just plain liked messing with people, but there were plenty of witches who didn't. Like Lucy. Right now Lucy just wanted to be witchy enough for the other girls to like her. But maybe someday.

"Maybe I can tell Lucy witches can be anything they want."

Mirta spread her wings.


	5. Chapter 5

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 5

In a school where the students could fly, there was no reason to say they couldn't hang out on the roof.

Selene and Priscilla were doing battle practice, swords flashing and clanging against each other. Of course they were using practice weapons that acted solid right up until they hit living flesh, and then went through it without actual damage.

Giving them a wide berth were several other practice sessions: Lolina and Alice practicing their aim with long distance magic, Francis using bolts of magic to bounce a ball through the air without letting it drop. A dozen other students lounged with books and notebooks, doing their studying in the afternoon light after classes.

Mirta stood on the very top of the tallest spire. It felt so nice, being up here. The breeze stirred her hair and brushed her wings. Her classmates had been able to fly for a few years now, but Mirta had only had wings for a month and was still getting used to how cool it was.

At first she hadn't gotten much chance to enjoy it. She was the first witch on record to be able to transform herself, and so there had to be magic tests to make sure she _was_ still a witch, and medical tests to make sure this was a healthy change. The doctor at Magix General had said some very scary things about 'possible possession' and then thankfully ruled that out.

Her parents had freaked out of course. Her mother had actually burst into hysterical tears and Miss Faragonda had to get on the phone and calm her down. Going home next vacation would be interesting.

But even so... Mirta felt all the way down to her bones that it was a good thing that had happened to her.

There was a scrabble of claws and Mirta's six-legged cat raced across the roof. Hexen was glowing from the protection spells three different fairies had put on him in case he fell. A fluffy tan cat with shadowy wings ran after him, yowling cheerfully. That was Katy Spika, and she was actually a fairy. "Meeeew!" She hollered, "Mrrt!"

Hexen hopped into Lolina's lap, over her book. Safe!

"Mrr." Katy morphed into her human form. "Not fair!"

"Meow!"

"To cats, we are but furniture." Lolina said.

Mirta hopped down, landing lightly next to her friends.

"Having fun?" Katy asked. "Everybody stands up there as soon as they get confident in their flying."

Mirta ducked her head and blushed.

"It's so fun being on top of the top of the top of the school!" Lolina enthused.

Across the roof, Priscilla lunged and her sword cut into Selene's leg. Selene yelped and sat down, rubbing her leg. There was no damage from the magical practice sword, but the site that would have been wounded glowed red.

Priscilla whooped, and pretty much everyone watching cheered.

"Good move!" Selene said as her friend helped her up. "I'm done."

"Already?"

"Already?! It's been half an hour and you tagged my leg!" Selene was trying to sound grumpy but not really managing. "Turn down the power on that thing!" She turned off her sword and offered it around. Francis held out her hands and Selene tossed her the sword.

Selene limped over and sat with Mirta and her friends.

Francis transformed and charged her sword. "Want to turn up the power?"

"Oh yeah." Priscilla grinned. The two fairies summoned their charmix and went at it.

There was a double sigh from Katy and Lolina. "I wanna charmix!"

"Meow. Don't we all."

"We'll get ours. Just be patient." Selene reassured them.

"That's easy to _say_! We haven't yet." Lolina whined. "What if we don't? What if we can't graduate? What if we're stuck being low level fairies forever!"

Hexen joined in, "Meow-ow-ow!" and the fairies laughed.

"Tecna would say..." Mirta brushed her hair to one side and did her best to mimic Tecna's clipped voice, "Logically, that is unlikely. According to statistics less than one percent of all fairies fail to attain a charmix." Going back to her normal voice Mirta said, "Anyway most of the class hasn't gotten theirs. Just Bloom and her friends of course, Kimmy, and Francis and Priscilla."

Lolina sighed. "I wish I was Bloom! She's the best at everything!"

"Yeah and Lord Darkar _and_ the three scariest witches ever are trying to eat her."

"Oh right. That." There was a pause, but common sense hadn't completely penetrated because then Lolina said, "And Bloom and her friends always pass even though they miss so many classes, and that's just because Bloom is the famous Princess of Sparx!"

Selene rolled her eyes but didn't interrupt the tirade.

"They don't miss that many classes... and they get a lot of practical experience... and anyway Bloom and them are nice." Mirta said.

"Well yeah they're the coolest girls in the whole school, but they're gonna pass and I'm not!"

Which was probably the point of the whole rant.

Katy said, "Better not chase that thought any further down the hole, you'll get stuck!" She grabbed Lolina's notes. "O-kay, so what is a 'class B level society?'"

Mirta knew the answer.

Lolina said, "Um, its a civilization where magic is known but rare, used only by a few people."

"Class A?"

"A realm where magic is plentiful and for everyday use. Like here!" Lolina nodded, bouncing her ponytail cutely.

"Right. And the other class levels?"

"Class C means magic is so rare most people don't believe in it, like Earth. And class D has just enough magic to have living creatures, no magic anyone can use."

"See, you know it." Katy swatted Lolina with the notebook, Lolina tried to swipe it back, and they tussled. Katy rolled, changed mid-motion and jumped up as a cat with her fur puffed out.

Mirta grabbed Hexen and they got out of the way. Safely clear, Selene asked, "So, the Magical Mayhem tour just uploaded its schedule, it'll be here Friday night. You want to come?"

"You bet! How much are tickets?"

"Not that bad." Selene opened her phone and pulled up the ticket page. "We're all going Saturday."

Mirta did some mental calculation. "Grab me a ticket, I'll pay you back tonight!" And she did a little bounce of happiness. She'd never seen a Magical Mayhem concert but she had all their cds. Lucy had borrowed them... Mirta dug out her own phone.

Selene gave her a questioning look.

"I'm gonna see if Lucy wants to come with us."

Lolina hopped over, "Why? She never does."

Mirta winced. This was true; Lucy hadn't wanted to come to any of the movies, concerts or parties Mirta had invited her to since coming to Alfea. She left a message for Lucy anyway.

The concert loomed large in the fairies' minds, making class crazier than most Fridays. The etiquette teacher just assigned reading and canceled the lecture. Even Professor Avalon was having trouble keeping his students' attention.

Mirta bent down to check her phone in the shadow of her desk. Lucy hadn't replied. Guiltily she straightened up and tried to concentrate.. The subject of the class was Theory of Transformation and the board was covered with words like 'extradimensional' and 'psycore-reflective.' Mirta wanted to pay attention, in case she could learn anything about her own transformation, but it was hard to concentrate with everyone else whispering and texting each other.

Suddenly Avalon snapped his wings open, startling the class into silence. "Let's try something different. Charmix. Ask me anything."

He immediately had the undivided attention of every student.

"How do you know anything about it? You're a boy." Kylie asked cheekily.

"Good question. I'm not a fairy, but the way paladins gain new powers is very similar. Also I've studied magical transformation theory for my doctorate."

"How many kinds of transformations are there?"

"Another good question, Alice." Avalon said, and Alice blushed delicately. "But I don't have an answer. New transformations are still being discovered, and nobody knows for sure how many there are."

Prisclla grumbled, "So you're not going to give us a list of names and requirements?"

"No. You'll learn them when you need to. For now, concentrate on becoming strong where you are."

Everyone grumbled at that, and Mirta didn't blame them. Everyone knew there were a lot of different forms a fairy could earn, but beyond enchantix—which fairies almost never earned until their third year of school—it was all mysterious. Was _aquatix_ even real? Did Miss Faragonda really have her _angelix?_ Nobody knew for sure.

"Why can't witches get a charmix?" Ortensia asked suddenly. The question was so surprising some people gasped, and Kylie dropped the pencil she'd been levitating. Even the professor looked surprised. Mirta sank down in her seat. Ortensia added, "What, it's a question!"

"Well witches can transform their clothes..." Alice said.

Everyone was all ears again. They were also all looking at Mirta.

"Mirta, would you like to take the question? You probably know more about it than I do."

Mirta did not want to, but it was hard say no to Professor Avalon. Blushing, she stood up and tried to gather her thoughts. "Um, I don't, I mean nobody knows all about why witches and fairies are different, but witches can get new forms. They even look like jewelry too. But they work differently, um, charmix is by a fairy's inner power but the witch version it's by making a deal with a dark power. It's called, um, gloomix. A couple of seniors at Cloud Tower have them."

Priscilla popped up. "Hey, so you can't power up unless you make a deal with something creepy? That's not fair!"

Mirta nodded and sat down again as the teacher took back the conversation. Avalon said, "No, it isn't fair. But maybe Mirta will find another way. She's not the usual sort of witch after all." The way he said it was incredibly flattering. "I've heard of gloomix too, and read about something called a demonix—to earn that a witch has to consume all the life force of a magical being. Have you heard of that, Mirta? I heard it from a banshee I don't completely trust."

Mirta shook her head, not just to say she hadn't heard of it but to say no way would she ever do anything so awful.

"You met a _banshee_, Professor?" Kylie squealed, and the rest of the class became a lesson in dangerous magical creatures.

That night Mirta joined the crowd of students catching the bus to the concert. Mirta had borrowed her outfit from Alice: a lacy blouse and dark red broomstick skirt. It was a classy outfit that none of her friends at Cloud Tower would've been caught dead in. Stylish but danceable, as Stella would have said. Alice was wearing a glittery full-length dress, Lolina rocking a tiny little top and skirt in eye-hurtingly bright neon. Priscilla had grown her clothes using her plant magic.

The bus let them off downtown. All the shops were open late for the concertgoers. With half an hour before the doors even opened everyone was milling around buying food from stands outside the concert hall and window shopping. Mirta wandered along in the wake of her friends, hoping the witches she could see in the crowd wouldn't notice her.

Katy and Lolina had stopped by a clothing store window where magically animated mannequins slowly moved from one pose to another. Mirta paused to look too. That was a nice top! She wondered how the amber silk would look with her skintone...

Two shops away a familiar blue-haired head was pressed to a window. Katy waved. "Hey Selene, whatcha looking at?"

"Velka devices." Selene said in a worshipful voice.

Katy's ears popped up. "No way!"

Mirta hurried over to look. In the window, glass pillars held ordinary looking jewels. She didn't see what was so exciting.

Selene saw her confusion. "They're _conscious_ devices. The only realm that ever invented them was Velka, the ancient Cloud Knights used items like this. Each jewel turns into a weapon, and they have personalities and emotions.

"They're alive?" Mirta squinted at a pink gemstone the size of a marble. It flickered, and Mirta jumped back. Had it winked at her?"

"Nah, more like an AI program. But enough like life that they can join in spells."

The door opened and three heroes came out, grumbling among themselves. Mirta heard, "...don't even work! They must be fakes."

A small, bearded man followed them out. He held a handful of gems, glowing colors onto his shirt and face.

The four girls stared.

"Ah... not everybody is able to use a conscious device. It's a matter of spiritual compatibility, which they did not have! Would you young fairies like to try?"

"Yes!" Selene answered.

"Um, I'm not a..." Mirta began.

"There's no way we could afford..."

He waved that away. "Just a test drive. To prove I sell authentic magic items! Here, choose one and hold it."

It was too tempting, even though Mirta was pretty sure it wouldn't work since she wasn't a fairy. She chose a garnet-colored stone and held it up. Light and shadow flickered in the depths of the jewel. Letters flowed across the surface and it spoke aloud. "You are qualified to be a partner. Would you like to make a contract?"

The shopkeeper said, "Temporary contract! Five minutes!"

"Ok!" the jewel chirped. The other jewels did too.

Selene transformed. As her clothes changed and her wings appeared, her device orbited around her. It grew from a small jewel to the size of a crystal ball, and metal parts appeared around it, until the orb was surrounded by a frame at the end of a long staff. Selene grabbed it and started shooting off fireworks.

"Cool." Katy said, and transformed herself.

"Ready?" Mirta whispered to the garnet.

"Ready. Setup!"

Mirta was worried it wouldn't work, right up until the power rippled around her. It was different this time, like hearing an old song with a new instrument added to the band.

Her feet hit the ground, feeling different. She had different boots! And a stylish long coat with a bow in front. Mirta stood looking down at the new outfit and the elegant staff in her hand.

"Hey! We didn't get new stuff on our outfits!"

The shopkeeper said, "Interesting. You must have a gift for synchronizing with intelligent devices."

Mirta thought: A firework. In the shape of a pumpkin to match my favorite shirt. Right _there_. She pointed the staff and let a little power through it.

There was a big bang, and a twinkling orange pumpkin shape hung in the air. Katy and Selene cheered.

In her head, Mirta heard the voice of the device and suddenly she knew exactly how to modify the firework into a real attack.

Then... "Contract expired."

There was a general groan of disappointment both from the fairies and from the gathered crowd. Mirta's new coat and boots melted away, and she shifted back to her normal clothes. They returned their devices, and Selene asked how much one cost. The shopkeeper whispered, not wanting to scare potential customers.

But Lolina yelled out, "That's gotta be _two years_ of Princess Stella's clothing budget!"

Ok, that wasn't the most polite way to put it, but it was true. For the cost of a real Velka device, she could've bought a nice cottage in Witches' Sphere.

"Well there's only one thing to do." Selene said as they continued down the street, "Go to Velka and find one!"

"You can do that?"

"Nobody lives there except archaeologists. It's a dead realm... oh look, they're opening the doors!"

Holographic bouncers popped up beside the concert hall doors. "Magical Mayhem begins now! Please present your tickets and get ready for muuuuusical maaaaaagic!"

That was the end of all conversation.


	6. Chapter 6

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 6

The day after the concert started with a knock on the window. Mirta burrowed out from under the covers and slooooowly remembered she was on the third floor. Who could be knocking on the window?

There was a pop as Livy spelled herself through the glass. "Wake up!"

Mirta groaned. "It's Saturday..."

"Sorry. Miss Faragonda wants to see you. Please get up and get dressed!"

"She does? Why?" More awake, Mirta sat up and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. Hexen said a grouchy, "Mrow." about the loss of his warm sleeping spot.

"I think there's some trouble."

"Tell her I'll be right there." Mirta rushed out of her broom patterned pjs and into some clothes, washed her face, and trotted down to the headmistress' office, brushing her hair on the way. It was early afternoon, but everyone who'd gone to the concert was still in bed.

Hexen trotted along at Mirta's side. He stopped suddenly to hiss at the pixie hippo swimming in the pond. The little cat arched his back, his tail going up like a bottlebrush. The hippo chirped. Mirta laughed. "It's ok sweetie, pixie critters aren't scary."

"Grr."

"Come on. We have to see Miss F." She scooped up Hexen and draped him around her neck, and they went to the headmistress' office.

"What's going on? Livy said..."

"Mirta, when was the last time you talked to Lucy?"

"Day before yesterday... no wait, I texted her about the concert but she didn't answer. Last week I guess."

"Did she say anything strange?"

"No." Mirta said, mystified. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid Lucy has run away from Cloud Tower. Nobody has seen her in four days."

Mirta gaped. "W-what? Where is she?"

"We don't know. She scheduled time off to visit her family, so her teachers assumed that was where she'd gone. Miss Griffin only contacted me this morning to see if you knew anything."

Mirta shook her head. "I don't... Lucy didn't say anything about leaving. I don't know where she'd go. We don't talk much you know... The only thing she really wants is to be cool, and for a witch talking to me isn't cool."

Miss Faragonda nodded but didn't comment. "I see. If you think of anything else, please let me know. And try not to worry- the best people in Magix are looking for her."

Mirta wandered back to her room in a daze. She made her bed, straightened her textbooks, and refilled Hexen's water dish without really seeing any of it. She called Lucy's phone and left a message because, of course, Lucy didn't answer. She probably hadn't even taken her phone along.

Mirta knew one finding spell. It worked very well for locating lost homework, or her phone when she left it somewhere, but it wasn't designed for tracking living creatures. She tried casting it for a couple of Lucy's possessions, but only got images of the dorm room at Cloud Tower. So Lucy hadn't taken her phone or her purse—but she had several purses. She'd probably taken one that Mirta didn't remember.

For the next hour Mirta cast the spell for every one of Lucy's possessions she could imagine well enough to do the spell for. Finally, when she was completely out of magic Mirta went down to the kitchen to stuff herself. Food and rest helped with magic drain.

Katy was in the cafeteria, recovering from last night's concert with the aid of a pile of tunafish sandwiches. "Hey Mirt. You want to practice counterspells later?"

"I can't, I have to recharge..." Mirta sat down with her plate of breakfast. "Katy, Lucy ran away."

"From Cloud Tower? I would too. Where'd she go?"

"I don't know. Nobody can find her."

"No way!"

"Really." Mirta gave Hexen a bit of bacon.

"You think she's in trouble?"

"Maybe."

Katy chomped into another sandwich and Mirta scooped up a forkful of scrambled eggs. The two girls ate in silence for a few minutes while Hexen circled the bacon hungrily.

A few more fairies trickled in, all casualties of the concert. Kylie was still in her pajamas and looked half asleep still. Silycia had her hair half braided. Alice and Kimmy both looked completely calm and awake. Priscilla and Lolina wandered over, with their breakfasts: Priscilla a breakfast wrap, Lolina a doughnut.

"'morning." Priscilla yawned.

"Mrow-ning. Hey, Lucy ran away from Cloud Tower and she's missing."

That woke Priscilla up. "Really?"

Mirta nodded.

"What are you going to do?"

"Huh?"

"Well she's your friend right? Aren't you going to look for her?"

Lolina rolled her eyes. "Who cares, she never hangs out with us anyway..." Katy swatted her, without claws.

Mirta shrugged and looked down at her empty plate. "I don't know... the police and everybody are looking for Lucy. It's not like I can do anything they're not already doing. I don't have a secret hunch where she'd go, or anything. We can't just... run off somewhere..."

"Like Bloom and her friends would." Priscilla finished. "Well, I'm just sayin'. They would. We might even do better, having two redheads in our group." She indicated her own fiery cropped locks, and Mirta's rusty hair.

"I didn't know we had a group! I'm in it, right?"

"There is no group, Priscilla made it up. But if there was one you could be in it. And we'll call it... The Pride! Because we're fierce as lionesses."

Mirta raised an eyebrow.

"Ok, Priscilla and me are fierce and you guys are... um... still awesome."

"Great save there, Katy." Lolina rolled her eyes, maybe annoyed at being designated non-fierce.

Mirta was sure she wasn't fierce, and not sure she wanted to be in a group. Making it official would mean people could be let in or kept out, and ok, the cliques at Alfea weren't nearly as scary as the ones at Cloud Tower but... still.

She got up and went to return her plate.

Mirta had meant to spend the rest of the day in the library writing up her essay on the development of magical civilization, but she couldn't concentrate. She found herself staring over at the restricted section, wondering what kind of finding spells might be hidden in there.

None that the police weren't already using, obviously. There was no way to stay missing forever; there were spells to find anything. You could scry for it and see where it was, dowse a map, or enchant something to point in the right direction. The only problem was that most finding spells only worked in the realm where they were cast. So as soon as someone figured out which realm Lucy had gone to, they'd find her.

Obviously she wasn't in Magix. And they would've searched in Witches' Sphere where Lucy's parents lived, and probably some of the other higher profile witch realms. Weirdly, if any of the other girls had run away from Cloud Tower, Mirta would have known exactly where they'd go: straight to Coventry Isle to see the legendary theaters, the legendary nightlife, the legendary... well, everything was legendary in the capital of witch culture. Mirta wanted to see it herself someday. But Lucy hadn't been interested in witch art or history.

Mirta ran her hands through her hair and groaned. "She was my best friend for a year! How can I not know anything about her? Hexen, what kind of awful friend am I?"

"Mrow. Mr-mow." Was her cat's opinion. He sat himself down on her half-written essay.

An hour later Mirta hadn't gotten anything done on her essay but she'd decided she had to do something about Lucy, just so she could stop feeling guilty. She still didn't have any good ideas though—in fact she only had ONE idea: to sneak into Lucy's dorm room to look for clues. She explained this to Hexen, who jumped up on her shoulder and declared himself ready to go.

"You can't sweetie. Pets aren't allowed at Cloud Tower... except for that duck that followed Icy around last year." She smiled at the memory and wondered where the little duck had gotten to. He'd had a lot of personality for a magical construct so he probably wouldn't have just vanished.

Mirta dropped her books and Hexen in her room and grabbed her witchyest sweatshirt with the bones on it and the big hood. It wasn't much of a disguise but it'd do.

She was heading for the front gate when Lolina and Priscilla caught up with her, one on each side. Mirta looked back and forth at them.

"You're going to the witchy part of town."

"I thought I'd see if I could find a clue where Lucy went." Mirta said, looking down because she wasn't sure if she was proud of it or not.

Priscilla grinned. "I figured you would. Can we come?"

That was not what Mirta had been expecting. "But you guys would get detention until you graduate."

"Only if we get caught." Lolina reasoned. "Come on, let us come."

"Witches sneak in and prank Alfea every year; we owe them a stinkbomb spell or something!"

"Hey... no... Priscilla! I'm just going to look around Lucy's room, which is ok because I used to live there too. Not leaving any prank spells. Or anything."

"Loli just graduated intermediate psychometry. She could help you look for clues."

"Yeah. And what will you do?" Lolina asked back.

"Bodyguard in case you get caught." Priscilla said immediately.

That actually made a certain amount of sense. Mirta nodded. "Ok, you guys can come too. I think we can find you some witch clothes before the three o'clock bus."

As they entered the gates of Cloud Tower the two fairies crowded close behind Mirta. It was sort of funny, except that Mirta used to feel the same way whenever she came onto school grounds. Witches were mean. Some of them in the courtyard were playing a game, batting an energy ball back and forth. It was the same game fairies played, except that the witches' energy ball was a lot stronger. It'd burn you if you got hit. Nobody noticed Mirta and her friends sneak up the grand staircase to the dormitory wing.

Mirta unlocked the door to the dorm room. Priscilla and Lolina crowded in behind her—and immediately looked disappointed.

"It looks so normal!"

"What were you expecting? Bats hanging from the ceiling?" Mirta asked. She looked around. Nothing much seemed to be missing. She bent down to pull out the secret box from under Lucy's bed. It was almost empty, as if a lot of new things had been put in and then removed.

Lolina was looking at the dresser while Priscilla looked at the books on the desk. "Book on magical items, book on lost civilizations, book on ancient Velka—are these required reading?"

"No way." Mirta joined Priscilla by the desk. Lucy had definitely been doing some extracurricular reading.

Lolina picked up a book and shrieked as an animated bookmark wriggled away.

"It's just a spell." Mirta reassured her. There was a fad for these awful bookmarks that looked like squashed critters. Mirta thought they were disgusting. Lucy had thought so too—except now she owned one.

"Loli, could you try your psychometry on these books?" They were the only thing really out of place.

Lolina made a face. "Ew, I hate kenning library books... ok, ok, I'm doing it." she made a complicated gesture and held her hands over the stack of books. Her 'ew' expression returned. "Hope. Desperation. Planning." Her eyes flew open. "Do you think she did what Selene said, and went looking for some kind of magic item?"

"To Velka?" Priscilla asked, wide-eyed.

"I think she did go looking for... something, anyway. Sorry, this isn't a precise science. This whole room feels sad."

Yeah, it always had. "Let's go. There's nothing else here." Lucy had been really careful. She must've been planning to leave for a while.

"That's it?" Lolina sounded disappointed.

"Lucy was trying _not_ to leave clues, dummy."

"Well..." Lolina began, realized she didn't actually have anything to say, and stopped.

Mirta tossed the two their witch-disguise cloaks. "Come on. I'll get you guys some witch snacks out of the machine on the way out."

They escaped without catching the attention of the ball-playing witches in the courtyard, to Mirta's relief.

And then nothing happened. Mirta spent the rest of the day worrying and avoiding her friends, who seemed to be expecting her to _do_ something. And Mirta still wasn't sure there was anything she could do. Even if she knew which realm Lucy had gone to, she couldn't just leave school and go there. She had to go to class, and finish that stupid essay, and do her laundry and... everything!

She was down in the laundry room folding her newly spell-cleaned shirts when Flora came in, carrying one laundry basket and floating another behind her by magic.

"Flora!" Mirta stepped forward to take the other basket and start loading it into an empty machine. "I hope whoever's these are is paying you in cookies."

"They're Bloom's, and she isn't." Flora sighed. "She's doing so much extra study with Professor Avalon she hasn't got time for chores."

Mirta made a face, turned towards the washer where Flora couldn't see. Figured, the most interesting, most handsome teacher would only pay attention to the most interesting student. "Isn't he helping Bloom discover about her birth parents on Sparx?"

"Yes. She's so unhappy, feeling like she has no connection to them."

Mirta paused, thinking of her parents. What would she be if she didn't know them—couldn't remember the smell of her mother's garden or the potions cooking in the kitchen or her father's stories? Those things were like... weights, that kept her from being blown away from herself. Maybe Lucy didn't have any weights like that, and that's why she...

"Did you hear about Lucy?" Mirta asked, and suddenly felt bad, "Don't mean to bother you with my problems, I'm just worried..."

"Of course you're worried! Oh, I meant to give you..." Flora patted the pockets in her skirt and pulled out a little bag. "Plant the seed and think of the person you want to find. It only works if you're in the same world though—your feet must be on the same soil as the feet of the person you want to find."

"Thank you... but..."

Flora smiled. Her green eyes tilted and her whole face seemed to glow. "If you don't need it, just save it for when you lose your friends in the mall. That's what I grow them for."

That smile rendered Mirta temporarily mute. She tucked the bag in her pocket. It felt like there was a big round seed inside. "Thanks." She managed. The washers ended and Mirta helped unload and fold Bloom's shirts. Back in Witches' Sphere most people did their laundry by hand, and it took all day instead of ten minutes!

Both girls were done, and hefting their laundry baskets, a shout rang out down the steps, "Mirtaaaa!"

"I'm down here!" Mirta called back.

"You're wanted in the headmistress' office. I don't think it's news for you, since I have to get Kim and Lolina too." It was Selene, her blue pigtails swinging in excitement. She was holding a piece of paper. "You're not on the list Flora. Maybe 'cause you guys just got back from Earth. Sorry, gotta go get everybody!"

Mirta looked at Flora and shrugged, "I better go see."

She took a detour to drop off her clean clothes, and pick up Hexen. Then they went to Miss Faragonda's office for the second time in two days. This time though, the small room was crowded with fairies. Selena, Lolina and Kimmy were standing around, and Katy Spika was crouched on the back of an armchair. Priscilla arrived the same time Mirta did.

Faragonda was standing in a thinking pose, looking out the window with her hands folded behind her. The sun had set, and the outdoor lights were sparkling in the night. She turned to address the group of fairies. "Girls, thank you for coming. An old student of mine has requested the assistance of a few of Alfea's best students. She's an archaeologist working on the realm of Velka."

Selene's pigtails levitated in surprise. Mirta gasped.

"You want us to go?" Kimmy asked.

"I think the six of you would be perfect magical backup. You'd be helping out around the dig for a week or more, with Starria, and I believe her son works with her. Are you interested?"

"Yes!" That was Selene, of course.

"You bet!"

"Are you kidding? Let me at it!"

Mirta wasn't sure... How weird was it that the headmistress wanted to send them to the exact world where Lucy might have gone? Of course she'd have to go. "I'd like to go." She said aloud.

Faragonda smiled. "Very well. The six of you will leave the day after tomorrow, first thing in the morning. I suggest you use the time to read the guidebook and finish your homework." She waved her hand and six guidebooks appeared oh her desk. The fairies grabbed theirs and crowded out, chattering excitedly.

Mirta hung back. "Headmistress?"

"Yes, dear?"

"Um, I think Lucy might've... she had some books on extinct civilizations and rare magic items, and Velka. Maybe she went there."

"Yes, Miss Griffin told me."

"So is that why you're sending us there? Why not tell the police?"

Miss Faragonda shook her silvery head. "It would be wonderful if you found Lucy, but it's also true that Starria requested some help. And we did tell the police. I'm afraid they can't send anyone to Velka until next week. It seems someone at Balthazar's School for Sorcery is using forbidden summoning spells. Catching a possible dark sorcerer is higher priority than searching for a witch who disappeared of her own free will."

Well it did make _sense_ for the police to think that way, much as Mirta disagreed. Sorcery was serious stuff.

"Well..." She had to think about what she meant. "Thank you. I'll do my best to help your friend. Um, I guess you also know Selene's crazy over those talking jewel weapons... we saw some downtown. She really wants to find one."

"I know. I wish her luck with it; Starria's lived on Velka for ten years and not found a working device! It should be an educational trip, but if it turns out to be an exciting one I'm sure you'll be able to handle it."

Mirta was sure of no such thing, but she knew a dismissal when she heard one. She grabbed her Guide to the Realm of Velka, and went to pack.


	7. Chapter 7

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 7

The homework was turned in, Mirta's bag was packed, and there was nothing else to do but wait for dinner, then bed, then waking up to catch an interdimensional ship first thing in the morning.

Sitting on the floor of her room, leaning back against her bed, Mirta read bits of the Guide to the Realm of Velka aloud to her cat. "There are no large land animals in the realm, except for cattle which have been reintroduced. They instinctively avoid the ruins of the cities."

Mirta thought about that. Cows were pretty stupid, in her experience, which mostly involved chasing them away from the poisonous plants in her mother's herb garden. They didn't have enough instinct to avoid henbane, and even nightcap mushrooms, but they'd avoid the cities on Velka.

"Brr... whatever the Velkans used to blow themselves up with must've been crazy potent."

She'd read about dead realms before, realms where the people hadn't been able to control their technology or magic or whatever, and ended up killing everyone, but it was still creepy. According to the book, several thousand years ago two countries on Velka had gone to war and all the Cloud Knights had been forced to join one side or the other. And in that war they'd managed to kill everything bigger than a mouse in the whole _world_. Now nobody lived there but archaeologists who carefully searched out the secrets of that great war.

So those intelligent devices they'd seen downtown, had they been used to destroy cities? Kill innocent people? Did they _remember_?

Hexen hopped into Mirta's lap and started kneading her legs with all six paws.

"Magic is creepy sometimes."

"Mrrt."

Next to them on the floor, Mirta's phone chimed. She opened it. Text received: Help me test potion? L.

Well that was something to do while waiting for dinner! Mirta hopped up, leaving the depressing guidebook propped open on the floor. Hexen at her heels, she made her way down to Lolina's room.

Lolina was showing off a tiny jar of what looked like glitttery lip balm to Katy and Selene. "What is it?" Mirta asked from the door.

"Lets you see magic. Help me try it out?"

There was a general shrug. "What do you do?"

Lolina demonstrated, "Close your eyes and put a little dot on each eyelid. And then... yep, it works! This is cool!"

She passed the jar around and everyone else put some on.

Mirta opened her eyes. The main difference was that everybody was glowing, and she could see their wings. Not super-exciting, since she already knew what her friends looked like transformed. "Hey, what do I look like?"

"Same as we do. I can see your wings."

"The question is, would wings still have shown up if we'd tried this before you transformed?" Selene said.

That was definitely a good question.

"Well you haven't got time to find a witch to look at; it'll wear off in half an hour. Let's go see what we can see!" Lolina managed to grab all three friends and hauled them towards the window.

Enough students were hanging out on the roof that there was plenty to see. The usual magic practice was a lot more showy with their special vision. When Kadija flung a spell, Mirta could see the faces of her guardian spirits appear in her shadow. Silycia blocked, and Mirta could see trails of light wrapping around the fairy's arms before they splashed out to become a shield.

Tecna landed on the roof with Digit hovering behind her. The pixie glowed like a small sun and Mirta blinked. She'd read that pixies were powerful magical beings but after living with Amore and especially Chatta bouncing around it was easy to forget just how magical they were. Tecna shifted back to her normal clothes but a strange outline still shone around her. It was a computer, Mirta realized. All Tecna would have to do was summon it into real existence and she could log on anytime.

Lolina, also looking at Tecna, let out a sigh of longing. "I totally need my charmix."

"I totally need to check out the dragonfire with this spell on." Katy said and launched herself off the edge of the roof.

Mirta opened her mouth to say she wasn't sure that was right. Somehow it seemed less polite to go looking for someone just to see what they looked like with spell vision. Of course she was looking at everyone who was up on the roof anyway so she wasn't much better.

Feeling a bit bad, Mirta dropped back down to the window and went inside. Hexen was waiting, grumbling. His glow was just the shape of himself: a six-legged cat. That left glowing pawprints.

"You're still mysterious."

"Myow."

Mirta wandered down to the main floor. She looked into the potions classroom and saw the jars of ingredients sparking and shimmering. She could see what the ingredients did. Anyone who had this kind of vision all the time wouldn't even have to label their bottles.

"Good evening, Mirta."

"Evening, Professor." Mirta turned and smiled at Professor Palladium. Looked at through the spell he seemed to be wearing golden armor.

"Ready for your trip tomorrow?"

"Yep, all packed. Including your assignment and Professor Wizgiz' assignment."

The teacher chuckled. "Have some fun too, all right."

"I will!"

A sudden commotion made them both look over at the main doors. Mirta saw something like a shadowy black cloud—and then billowing colors of spells being cast. At her feet Hexen's fur puffed out.

A ring of light rippled quickly over the room. It didn't touch Mirta but Palladium said, "Someone's been hurt. Wait here." He headed for the infirmary at a run.

Mirta followed more slowly, trying to put together what she'd seen. The ripple was a communication spell, to tell the teachers what was happening. The colors must have been healing spells. But what about the black fog?

Of course there was a shield around the infirmary, to keep curious or worried students from getting in the way. A crowd had gathered, drawn by the shouting, and they hung around waiting to make sure whoever it was would be all right. Students got hurt all the time of course—flying accidents, spells gone wrong, it happened to everybody and was almost never serious.

This time looked serious.

A ripple in the air nudged the students gently back as Miss Faragonda made a beeline for the infirmary.

Mirta's jaw dropped.

In her spelled sight the headmistress gleamed silver, like a statue washed with light in all the colors of the rainbow. Feathery wings set with jewels billowed behind her, insubstantial in the solid world but truly there. Faragonda's face was that of a young woman but her expression was mature and stern as she gestured the shield aside and entered the hospital room.

Wow. So that's an adult fairy.

"Who's hurt?" Lolina asked as she came to stand next to Mirta.

"I don't know." Mirta realized the fairies around her were losing their glowing auras. She rubbed her eyes. "I think it's wearing off."

"Mine too. Wasn't that cool? I'll make up another batch when we get back from Velka, if I can sneak the ingredients."

Mirta jumped. Lowering her voice to a furious whisper she hissed, "What? It wasn't a class project? _Loli_! You didn't tell us that! Miz G would eat us for lunch if she caught us!"

"Ah, yeah, sorry... hehe!"

Appropriate revenge would have to wait for a less public moment. "Where are Selene and Katy?"

"I'm here." Selene waved. She was tall enough that her blue hair showed over the now-large crowd of students.

"Haven't seen Katy since she went off looking for Bloom." Lolina finished the answer. "Let's get some food while we wait."

They weren't the only ones to have this idea, and the line in the cafeteria was as long as usual. They got food and ate, getting more and more worried as no teacher appeared to tell them how the injured student was doing.

Finally Miss Faragonda appeared. "Girls. First of all, I'm happy to report Katy Spika-"

Mirta gasped. Lolina stood up so fast her chair fell over.

"...will be quite all right." Miss Faragonda finished. "She was found outside school grounds, quite badly injured. Until we're sure what attacked Katy, you are all to stay within the school's wards after sunset."

The room erupted into a hubbub of voices.

Mirta pushed her way to the front of the crowd. "Miss F, what happened? Are you sure Katy's ok?"

"She'll be fine, Mirta."

"Can we see her?" Lolina asked.

The headmistress looked at the worried crowd of students and nodded. "If you promise to spread the word that Katy is all right. Just for a minute." She ushered the two girls into the medical wing of the school.

Katy was awake when they came in, actually she was yowling, "Whatever healing spell you did was not enough! Owwww!"

Dr. Ofelia merely said, "I'm sorry dear, but cracked ribs are cracked ribs. It's going to hurt for a while. Try to rest."

Katy flopped back on her pillows. Her chest was wrapped in a long bandage. When she saw her friends her sticking-up hair started to settle down as she got control of her temper.

Lolina gaped. "What hit you?"

"I don't know. I heard someone talking outside of the wall so I hopped over to see who it was. Then, bang. Someone hit me with a force bolt. Lights out until Professor Avalon found me. I guess he did a pretty major healing and brought me back. And it. Still. Hurts." She finished with a growl directed at whoever had hit her.

Hexen appeared and carefully jumped up onto Katy's bed, nuzzling her hand and purring at her.

Mirta had no idea what to say. Most of her brain was full of too much worry for words, and another part was calculating what it would feel like to take a force bolt full in the chest. It'd be like being punched by a giant.

"And I can't come on the trip." Katy said.

Lolina started to look like she might cry too.

"Um." Mirta said, and had to grab for the next words. "It won't be as much fun without you. But we'll go somewhere when you get better, for sure."

"Yeah... it's all right." Katy said, even though it clearly wasn't. "Can I keep Hex while you're gone?"

"That's up to him."

Hexen said a whole sentence of meows. Katy smiled faintly.

Doctor Ofelia stood up from the corner where she'd been waiting. "All right, visiting hours are over. We've got an injured fairy here who needs to sleep. The cat can stay."

Mirta and Lolina said hurried good-nights and left. Lolina made the requested announcement to their friends, "She's fine. Hissing at the doctor! I think she just ran into a pissed-off inugami out there."

There was scattered laughter at the idea of the cat fairy meeting a dog spirit.


	8. Chapter 8

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 8

It was way too early in the morning when four yawning fairies, and one yawning witch, got off the bus at the station. As they gathered their stuff Lolina squealed and pointed as a dimensional ship rippled into view and coasted down to a silent landing. Small shuttles were coming and going all the time, flashing in the first rays of dawn.

They signed in and checked their ship. It was on time; they had an hour to wait before boarding. After dropping off their suitcases they headed for the food stands just opening up around the square. They were selling breakfast foods now, but would change menus as the day went on and travelers wanted different things. Armed with a selection of muffins and bagels the five of them waited.

On the other side of the square, and across the street, was the town hall of Magix. This early, nobody was there. The mayor and his council didn't have to come to work until noon.

Tugging absently on her braid and chewing a bite of muffin, Mirta climbed the steps and looked up at the carvings over the door. They were by some famous artist or other. Shame it wouldn't be polite to fly up and get a good view. But she'd seen pictures; she knew what they were. The nymphs, and the great dragon.

"Nymphs." Kimmy said, with awe in her voice. "You forget. We could be like that someday."

She glanced over at Mirta and shrugged apologetically. Because Mirta couldn't, of course. Only fairies could become nymphs.

The others gathered behind them. Lolina shook her ponytail. "I'd be happy with just a charmix."

"Well I hope if I ever got the chance..." Priscilla said.

And that was it. Nymphs were fairies who had died to protect something important—and it seemed to take more than that, because there were only eight known nymphs from all of history.

Mirta turned away. It wasn't like witches couldn't become spirits when they died, but they didn't ever end up with big carvings of them done out of thanks.

There was something else on her mind. Last night, when Katy had been brought to the hospital, Mirta had seen something that looked like a big cloud of darkness inside the school. Nothing evil should have been able to get through the school's protection spells so... was it even something bad? There was plenty of good magic that showed up as black to the sight. And if Mirta told anyone about it she'd have to admit they'd been using an unauthorized potion. Most likely if she mentioned it, the teachers would just say it was something perfectly normal and then they'd all get detention.

The girls walked back towards the station. Priscilla had her Guidebook to the Realm of Velka out and was comparing it to something she'd read online. Lolina claimed the last two uneaten muffins and started juggling them.

Mirta resolved that when they got back she'd figure out a way to ask one of the teachers about the cloud. She could always say she'd read the description.

"Look!"

The sky rippled and a big passenger liner appeared in the air. Its sides shimmered lavender and blue, some strange metal. There was a long row of windows down the side and Mirta could see the pale blurs of faces inside.

"I never get tired of seeing that." Selene said. "They're so beautiful."

"We'd better report to the gate. It's almost time."

They did, though of course they had plenty of time as the port crew finished looking over their ship and then started boarding. The five girls filed down the aisle and took their seats. Kimmy and Selene had scored window seats and kept the others updated as the ground crew backed off and waved the ship to take off.

Overhead signs saying, "NO MAGIC PLEASE" came on and there was a mass movement as everybody got out their phones to turn them off. Mirta tightened her seatbelt and tried to settle in, despite the butterflies in her stomach. This was her first interdimensional flight, actually. Witches' Sphere was a fairly advanced realm and had a direct portal to Magix.

The ship hummed, and sparks started to flicker outside the windows. Then there was a sudden lurch of weightlessness and the ship took off. It only had to go up a few hundred meters before there was another lurch as the ship phased over into interdimensional space. The view outside the windows went all blue and purple swirly. Mirta craned her neck to see around Selene.

"Your first time huh?"

Mirta nodded. "What is that out there? Clouds?"

"It's... Dad explained it... interdimensional space isn't actually _space _so it doesn't actually look like anything. But you can't see nothing so your brain fills in that."

"Everybody's brain fills in the same thing?"

"Brain surgeons are still trying to work out why." Selene rummaged in her backpack and got out a book.

Now that the excitement of takeoff was over, everyone was getting out their books, or leaning back in their seats to nap. Selene had a library book about magical archeology. Lolina was reading the latest _Enchanted Hearts_ romance. Kimmy's book was leather-bound with a clock face set in the cover. Priscilla had a game machine that must be safe to use in flight, because the alarms weren't going off. Mirta was currently reading a fantasy story about sorceresses and magical horses in a distant realm. It was a good book, but it was hard to pay attention while sitting in this uncomfortable chair. The book drifted down to Mirta's lap, and she let the early hour and the vibration of the ship lull her to sleep.

After a pleasant two-hour nap, Mirta was awakened by the pilot's voice saying, "We are about to shift into realspace in the realm of Velka. A land of ghosts and tragedy. We will be landing in ten minutes. If you're scheduled to disembark, please have your passports ready."

The windows suddenly flashed daylight. Mirta leaned around Selene to get a look.

Velka looked... hazy. The clouds outside the window were wispy and pale, neither white nor gray. The land below also looked dull, as if the plants weren't the same bright green as the ones in Magix.

There wasn't really a town below, just a landing marker and a few buildings. The ship settled down and the girls started standing up and stretching and collecting their backpacks. They all had passports, and special paperwork from Miss Faragonda saying they were supposed to be here. The other people getting off looked like archeologists. Mirta wouldn't have said it was possible to look 'like an archeologist' but these people did. Maybe it was the vests they were wearing, or the dusty duffel bags they all seemed to be carrying.

The girls stepped off the ship onto the packed earth of the landing area. The strange colorlessness wasn't an illusion. The soil was gray; the grass was grayish-green. The buildings were faded to shades of grayish as well. The wind was cool, dry and scentless under a flat ceiling of clouds. The world really felt dead.

Inside the port building they showed their passports. The man behind the desk explained that travel on Velka was mostly by balloon, since it was easier than building roads. The port was the closest thing to a city in the world; it had a hospital and a big building where vendors would sell everything imported to the realm.

Strange place.

They boarded a balloon—just the five of them, alone. Priscilla hopped aboard cheerfully. "We have these on Linphea—they're made of flowers there, of course. The spell tells it where to go, and calls up the right wind."

It had only been a few hours, but Mirta was quite ready to arrive at their destination. But... "What if there's a storm?"

"You can't be afraid of heights. You can fly!"

"I'm not thinking about the height, I'm thinking about lightning." Mirta said. The worry seemed quite sensible to her.

"Just come on."

Peer pressure won, and the balloon lifted off with everybody aboard. It had some nice seats with space underneath for their stuff. Selene stowed hers, then stood at the edge of the gondola, looking down speculatively.

"You aren't..." Kimmy said faintly.

Priscilla realized what Selene was plotting, and rushed up next to her. "We're not quite high enough. Give it a few more minutes."

The railing was just high enough that Mirta could kneel and look over it. The wind billowed her hair back from her face. They looked plenty high enough to her. The graygreen trees swept past underneath them at a high rate. Between them were patches of dusty colored grass and flat gray earth. No buildings anywhere.

"Look, you can see there used to be a road there. We're following it." Priscilla pointed.

Selene looked, squinted, and shrugged.

Mirta saw it though. There was a subtle differentness about the trees—they were a few feet shorter than the surrounding forest, in a wide ribbon stretching into the distance.

There really were no people here, no buildings anywhere. Mirta opened her phone. The only number available was an emergency call to the port.

Apparently they were high enough now. Priscilla swung her legs over the railing and pushed off. Selene hopped over behind her. A minute later they both flew up next to the balloon, arguing cheerfully about who'd fallen furthest.

Mirta was not about to try _that_. She transformed in the safety of the gondola and jumped out with her wings fully formed.

The air was dry and unpleasantly slick under her wings. Breezes driven by the storm whipped around her. Velka wasn't a friendly world. There were birds though; the balloon frightened a flock and they rose then dropped back into the trees.

The balloon was moving fast; Mirta was getting a workout keeping up. Priscilla caught up, grabbed the railing and flipped herself inside.

Selene pointed. Coming into view ahead of them there were more gray stones, then more, and it was clearly a ruined town. Selene started to dive toward it, then realized she'd never be able to catch up with her friends again.

"Better not!" Mirta yelled to her over the wind.

Selene pulled up and hovered by the balloon, then let momentum sweep her inside. It was an impressive display; Mirta was struggling just to keep up! She gave in and climbed back into the gondola. "I think I need to do the obstacle course more!"

"Flying's tough. It's half magic and half muscle."

"And all style." Priscilla added, and Mirta laughed. That was a good point!

"Um..." Kimmy began, "Did everyone read about where we're going? We have assignments. Mostly we need to provide magical help; Miss Starria is not a very powerful fairy. She requested assistance with scrying and dowsing to find spots to dig."

"We can do that. I brought my best mirror." Lolina said.

"At least there won't be any monsters."

"Unless anybody brought some in." Selene replied, and Kimmy frowned at her.

"Who'd do that?" Lolina asked, rolling her eyes.

A gust of wind rocked the basket and cut off conversation as everyone had to hold on. Mirta thought the balloon was descending, but they'd been so high up it was hard to tell.

Priscilla leaned over the side. "I know Flora says there's no such thing as a dead planet, and technically there is life here..."

"The planet remembers what happened." Kimmy added.

They were definitely sinking. Ahead, the grass was being replaced by more and more stones, the signs of another ruin. Mirta saw a few poles with brightly colored flags on them, signs of more recent habitation. There were tents too. But nobody was moving around.

The balloon landed with a bump in a clear place near the camp, and the girls piled off. Mirta expected someone would come to meet them, but there was no sign of anybody. Priscilla called out, "Hello!" a few times, then shrugged. "Maybe they're off somewhere."

There were several tents and shade tarps set up, and a table and chairs and a firepit with a heap of branches next to it. A working camp for two or three people.

Mirta was carrying their tent. It was currently two inches wide. She found an appropriately clear spot, put the tiny tent down, said the trigger word and fell backwards in the rush of air as the tent grew to full size. It had six beds inside. The girls stowed their suitcases and dumped jackets on Katy's bed.

"Shouldn't somebody be here to meet us?" Lolina asked.

Wind whistled around the top of the tent.

"Miss Faragonda said they'd be expecting us." Selene said and shrugged. She transformed and took a look around from twenty feet up. "I can't see anyone. Well? You guys going to help me look for them?"

The other fairies changed. Mirta called, "I'll be up in a minute! I want to look around down here first."

She did, actually, and she wanted a private minute to plant the magic seed. She had a bad moment wondering if she should use it to find their missing hosts, but surely they were around here somewhere. If Lucy really had come to this bleak place, she was in more danger. Mirta scooped up some dirt in a cup, planted the magic seed Flora had given her, and concentrated on thinking of Lucy while she added a splash from her water bottle. Nothing happened immediately, so she left the cup outside their tent where hopefully it would grow and not be knocked over.

Normally a spell should be done with a little more reverence, but there wasn't time. Mirta got her wings on and went to join the others. The air was getting thick with the storm that was hovering over the mountains.

The fairies glittered, the brightest colored things in sight against the gray realm. They were spread out, searching all directions for signs of life. Kimmy turned and waved, then shot off a flare of magic to get everyone's attention.

Mirta flew over. Kimmy looked pale. She pointed to something on the ground—a heap of something tan, and a blocky...

A downed balloon.

"Oh no."

Well, someone was going to have to look closer. Kimmy didn't look enthusiastic. Mirta wasn't either, but she summoned a magical wind to lift the heavy canvas. There didn't seem to be any bodies. She landed hesitantly.

"Oh man, maybe you had a point about lightning."

Priscilla gestured, frowned, and tried again. The bushes around the balloon started growing, slowly lifting the canvas out of the way. It had been a smaller balloon, with room for only one or two passengers. Their luggage was still there. The canopy was half gone with a big scorched hole eaten into it.

"Kimmy? Can you help?" Mirta prompted.

The blonde fairy landed next to Mirta and looked at the wreck. "Um... I think I could."

"They obviously walked away from the crash, so you won't see anybody die." Selene reassured her.

"O-ok. Stand back please" Kimmy summoned her charmix, raised her hands and started chanting a spell under her breath.

Slowly the pale gray world went blue. The wreck vanished. Moonlight-colored lightning flashed overhead. Selene pointed up. There was the balloon, bobbing in the storm high above them. Lightning flashed, but it was bright red in the blue haze of the timeslip. The balloon was sagging, on fire, then something must've slipped—it dropped like a stone.

Mirta covered her mouth to stop a shriek.

It was falling right on top of them—then the plummeting basket seemed to pause in midair and hang there for a second.

Kimmy saw it, and cast a confused look back at the others. Not part of her spell, then.

And then it crashed. Hit, bounced and tumbled past them to land where they'd found it. Mirta waited for someone to get out. Even crawl out. But nothing moved.

Kimmy shoved more power into the spell—her charmix started sparking—and suddenly it was blue daylight, another balloon was there and people in uniforms were loading two still forms onto stretchers.

The spell collapsed. Kimmy sat down suddenly. "Whew!"

"Are you all right?"

Kimmy nodded, "Fine, thanks Loli. Only—I think they did die. Didn't they?"

It certainly looked like it. Nobody wanted to say anything. Finally Priscilla said, "How far back was that?"

"Day before yesterday."

"Well..." Mirta couldn't think of anything to say.

Lolina flipped her phone open and turned away. "Hi, um, hospital. It's the next building over, connect me! Yeah... yeah, ok..."

The others stood around trying to think what to do. The wind picked up, rattling the bare bushes and blowing the girls' hair. Priscilla made a face. "I don't like it here. Why did we come, again?"

Lolina covered the mouthpiece and called, "Cause Miss F's friend invited us and Selene want to hunt treasure." Then she went back to her call.

The wind whistled.

Kimmy began, "Oh no, then Miss Faragonda's friend is probably..."

"Alive!" Lolina yelled, and snapped her phone closed. "Miss Starria and son were airlifted to the hospital with minor injuries but weirdly they won't wake up. Other than being in a coma they're fine. The port missed the memo that they're who _we_ were coming to visit. And, oh, the balloons are completely immune to electricity so they can't get hit by lightning."

"Then what..." Kimmy trailed off.

"Does anyone smell magic?" Lolina asked.

And Mirta did. She hadn't realized it, since the air was so weird and greasy, but there was a stillness gathering around them.

"What is it? What's coming?" Kimmy looked around wildly.

Lolina flicked her hand and a glowing ring appeared in it. Just in case.

But it didn't feel like something bad, just... something. Energy trying to take form.

Mirta reached out to it.

Air glittered and pulled together and then there was the transparent image of a boy standing there, smiling and holding Mirta's outstretched hand. "You're not a fairy." he said in a voice soft as a whisper.

Lolina shrieked.

Selene summoned her swords, as if they'd work on a ghost.

The ghost didn't seem to notice, staring at Mirta. "I'm Orion. Mom and I crashed—um, do you know if we're alive?"

"Your bodies are in the hospital, yeah, alive. Why aren't you in them?"

"We're trapped." The whisper said. It obviously took a lot of effort to speak. "We were—a spirit of the air caught our souls out of our bodies. It was trying to rescue us. I think. It wants—it can't talk, it wants to make a deal with someone who's alive, to help it communicate with people. We're no good for that anymore, but until it finds someone to help it out it won't let us go..." Orion faded out completely. His voice said, "If you can... help!... 'cause I don't want to be dead yet."

And he vanished like a blown candle.

Priscilla said, "We'll find a way to help you."

"Absolutely."

"How?" Lolina asked. "I mean, I know rescuing people is what fairies do, and I'm totally in favor, 'cause he was cute, but what can we do?"

Kimmy was sitting looking at the sky, ignoring her friends.

"Defeat this spirit?" Priscilla suggested.

"It sounds like a major elemental, no way could we beat it."

Mirta was just thinking it was kind of cool a ghost had been holding her hand. Would've been nicer if he hadn't been a ghost at the time, though.

"It's Mirta's charmix!" Kimmy burst out. Everybody looked at her. "Or gloomix or whatever. Witches get one by making a deal with an evil spirit, right? Well who says it has to be an _evil_ spirit! This one wants to make a deal with someone. You know how to do that right? It's a witch thing isn't it?"

"Um." Mirta said, her brain trying to catch up with that long train of logic. She did know the basics of communicating with spirit beings, it was a 101 class at Cloud Tower. But she hadn't tried it _at all_, much less on a powerful elemental, and with people's lives at stake! "I can't..."

"I think you should try." Selene said seriously. "They don't have much time, and who knows if there are any other witches in Velka."

"A trade. You offer to pass on the spirit's messages if it helps you. Make sure it knows you won't help it hurt anyone, and it has to let these two people go."

This was a lot of talking, for Kimmy.

"Is this what you learn in advanced classes?" Priscilla asked.

Kimmy nodded.

"Let's get back to camp first." Mirta said. The crash site was spooky and she didn't want to stay here, or try any important magic here. They hiked back, under a slate-gray sky with lightning flickering around the horizon.

The seed Mirta had planted had grown into a single flower at the top of a thin stem. It had a circle of petals, all white except for one red one. When the flower bobbed around in the wind, the red color flickered from one petal to another. Always pointing in the same direction. So Lucy _was_ here... somewhere.

While Mirta had been checking on the flower, Lolina had been making another call to the port. There had been a lot of arm waving and yelling at the phone. Her face was pale as she came over to report, "There's nobody here who can contract with spirits, and if their souls aren't released soon... well, even in a really good hospital..."

Mirta wound both hands in her own hair and tugged on it. "All right, I'll try talking to this thing. But—Lucy's here somewhere, this flower should be pointing to her. If the spirit eats me, you guys have to find her and make sure she's ok and depending on what she's doing here probably tie her up and deliver her back home ok? This doesn't seem like a very safe world for anyone to wander around alone."

"Ok, we'll do that—hang on, you're not going to get eaten!"

"Loli, I did say major elemental. If Mirta looks like she's in trouble, we can shoot at it but we can't actually hurt it."

Wishing Selene had picked a different time to share her knowledge, Mirta rummaged through her bag. "Did anybody bring anything... um, ribbons, feathers, glitter?"

"For what?"

"Offering for an air spirit. You really never had a class in this kind of thing?"

"Fairies really don't do this kind of thing." Priscilla said. "Would this work? They're seeds of native wildflowers; I was going to give them to our hostess to thank her for letting us visit."

"Perfect! Thanks. Ok..."

"What else can we do?"

Mirta shook her head. "Nothing. I just have to do it." She transformed and spread her wings. Velka's air was still unpleasantly slippery, and right now it was so heavy with magic Mirta wasn't sure she'd be able to fly in it. "Um, stay inside. I'll be back soon."

She took off. The spell was easy, just a few lines in some ancient language that told the local spirits you wanted to talk. Mirta poured the flower seeds through her hands, and wind curled around her, whipping them away before they fell. She took a deep breath and began to speak.


	9. Chapter 9

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 9

Mirta landed in front of the tent, and sagged as her knees threatened to give way. Electricity sparked off the hems of her clothes and the beads in her hair. And over the top edges of her wings, which hurt.

"Are you all right?" Selene asked. She reached, then paused, afraid of getting zapped. She glanced at the sky and decided to risk it, hauling Mirta into the tent just as the black sky opened up.

Rain pounded on the tent roof.

"Did it work?" Lolina asked. "The whole big dangerous make a deal with a major elemental and free the soul of Miss F's friend and..."

Mirta put her hands on the floor and sighed, the electricity running off her into the ground as she shifted back into her regular clothes. Two of her hair beads had shattered. She looked up and smiled. "It worked. Miss Starria and Orion should wake up in the hospital anytime now. And..." She held out her arm and concentrated. Her new jewelry felt like a swirl of icy wind and looked like a matte silver strip spiraling over her arm.

"No way!" Lolina squeaked. Kimmy and Priscilla crowded up behind her, staring. "It's a real gloomix?"

"Mmhm." Mirta released it. "I never thought I'd have one. I'm not sure what I'll have to do to pay for it... but for now it's all right. Is there any food?"

Priscilla conjured hot dinner, using a suitcase for a table.

Lolina checked her phone, but the storm had cut off all communication. Selene sat in the tent doorway, plate in her lap. Rain poured down a few inches from her feet, but the tent's magic stopped water getting in.

Mirta decided she'd done enough heroics for the day, and gave all her attention to the food, which was very good. Hopefully Priscilla hadn't grabbed it off someone's dinner table! Soon, maybe tomorrow, their hosts would be awake and alive, and probably on the way to camp. Probably with backup from whatever the local version of police was. And she'd probably get to meet Orion in person.

As Lolina had mentioned, he was cute. Actually she was mentioning it again, right now, and Priscilla was starting a lecture about one-track minds.

"Selene? Why are you sitting there, there's plenty of room."

"Keeping watch just in case." Selene said.

"In case of what?" Mirta asked, honestly confused. An entire summer's worth of storms seemed to be happening all at once outside.

"In case of whatever shot down the balloon. Do you know what it was, from when you were... talking to the sky?"

Mirta hadn't known and then suddenly, with a disturbing mental jolt, she did. "S-something on the ground shot it. Not with a spell, with a... solid shot? Is there even such a thing?"

"A solid shot weapon? I saw a picture of one once, but magic's so much more efficient..." She stopped. "Um."

Mirta looked behind her. The others were sitting wide-eyed. Kimmy said, "Oh no."

"What?" Lolina asked, a step behind the conversation.

Priscilla rolled her green eyes. "You said it, remember, the balloons are spelled against lightning so something shot it down. And this planet has crazy stuff, weapons that survived from the war. Maybe one of them woke up."

"Oooooh, nonono! Not while we're stuck out here by ourselves!"

"I don't think anything's going to be doing anything until the storm stops." Kimmy said sensibly. "But maybe we should think about flying back in the morning."

"Not me. Not without Lucy."

"If something did wake up I want to see it!"

"We are here to help dig up old stuff..."

"Talk about it in the morning?"

The possible presence of an ancient magical weapon did not stop them from eventually getting to sleep. The rain helped; nothing with any sense would be moving in it.

Mirta woke up about dawn. The sky was blue and everything was dripping. Velka had looked so dull and gray yesterday; today it gleamed silver.

She changed into fresh clothes and found a granola bar for breakfast. The others were grumbling and getting up. Selene also dug a granola bar from her suitcase; Priscilla conjured a box of donuts.

"Wow... it's warm!" Lolina bounced out into the sunlight.

Kimmy followed her out. She summoned a brush and started brushing out her long blonde hair.

"Your hair's pretty. Why do you always wear it up?" Lolina chirped.

Kimmy ducked her head, "I like to... it stays out of my face. Um, so what are we going to do today?"

"I'm going to look for Lucy."

"You really think she ran away and came here?"

"Magic flower says she did!" Priscilla plucked it and held it under Lolina's nose.

Lolina blinked at it. "I guess she did. Wonder how; we needed our passports and an invitation. Maybe she stowed away in a ship. Ok, we can rescue your friend!"

Mirta held out her hand. "Um, can I have my magic flower please?" Fairies could be so... fairyish. Or maybe it was just Lolina.

Selene rolled her eyes. She had a comb and was tying her hair into its usual pigtails. "Be serious you guys. There might be something dangerous out there. The good news is some grownups will probably be arriving to check on us soon, maybe even Miss Starria and her son, if they're all right."

"They are..." Mirta said.

"Are you? I mean, you got that power last night but you have to pay for it, right?"

Mirta nodded. "I'm all right. It just... it's a spirit, it doesn't know about people or anything about being alive and thinking with a brain. Right now it just wants to watch me think."

Pause. "That's pretty creepy, you know."

"Yeah I guess. But at least it's not someone like Darkar! And hey... I can do this now." Mirta opened her wings and summoned wind, lifting herself off the ground. She transformed her clothes in midair and called down, "I'm going to look for Lucy. See you later."

Selene called something in reply, but Mirta was too high up to understand it. She angled towards the rising sun and let a breeze carry her along. Flying was so much easier now. She knew where the winds were, just knew, as if the whole sky was mapped out.

The fairies weren't in a hurry to follow her. Mirta didn't really blame them. Lucy was _her_ friend, who didn't want to hang out with Alfea girls and had hardly even met them.

The magic flower—and part of Mirta's brain cringed at the words, because no witch would be caught dead with a magic flower except deadly nightshade—pointed back towards the balloon crash site, and past it, over uncharted forest. Wet gray-green trees flowed past underneath her.

She spent a little time experimenting with her new power, calling the wind to curl under her wings and carry her along. It took a lot of the exertion out of flying. She could get used to this!

The flower now had three red petals, and as Mirta watched the color spread to another two. She must be getting close. She paused and hovered, looking around. Trees, drying from last night's rain, some gray stones. There was no sign of civilization visible through the canopy. If Lucy was here, she didn't have a tent.

Mirta tried, "Lucy? Hey, Lucyyyyyy!"

Nothing.

She called on her gloomix and asked the air to amplify her voice. "LUCY COME OUT RIGHT NOW!"

Echoes bounced off the distant mountains. Startled birds took off. Mirta jumped about a foot, in midair. She hadn't meant it to be _that_ loud!

Something zipped past the edge of her wing. Mirta jerked away. Whatever it was, it was too small to see. The below her, Mirta saw a flash of color. She flew down.

Lucy was standing in a little clearing. Her hair was tangled and her clothes were wrinkled. And she started yelling before Mirta even landed. "Mirta? What are _you_ doing here?"

This was not the reaction Mirta had been expecting. It was so far from what she'd been expecting that it banished sensible thought for a minute. "What am I doing here? What are you doing here! You disappeared! Everybody's worried, your parents call Miss Griffin every day! We thought you were in trouble!"

"So they sent _you_?"

"Well... Miss Faragonda sort of..."

"Whatever. I'm not in trouble, and I was coming home today anyway so you can just go back to whatever you were doing with your fairy friends."

Mirta almost did. That was how stunned she felt. Brain still trying to catch up, she said, "Um, something shot down a balloon near here. It's dangerous. You should come back with us."

Lucy sighed loudly. "Mirta. There's nothing on this stupid planet that's dangerous to me right now." And she held up the jewel. It was red, clouded with brown mist.

Mirta's jaw dropped. "No way."

"The ones in the store wouldn't work for me, but this one works just fine!" She held it up and said, "Go!"

Mirta jumped back.

The jewel unfolded itself, manifesting long waving sheets of metal. Lucy held out her arms and the magic wrapped around her, solidifying into red metal around her arms and growing over her head. The armor decorated itself with ribbons pulled out of nowhere and jewels that rippled into being. A helmet wrapped around Lucy's head and a glass visor dropped over her eyes.

It was amazing. Lucy _looked_ amazing. She struck a pose and grinned.

And it was all wrong. The armor had a long black scar across the middle of the chest piece, and it just felt... wrong.

"Well? How cool is this?"

"...it's dangerous." Mirta whispered. Then louder, "It's great, but are you sure it's all right? It's not broken?"

"It worked didn't it?"

"Yeah, but..." Mirta's magical senses were shouting alarm. Lucy should have been getting the same warning feeling, but either she wasn't, or she was ignoring it. "It's a weapon, Luce. It looks cool but it's actually for hurting people. What are you going to do with it?"

Lucy paused, like maybe she hadn't thought of it quite that way. She opened her mouth to say something.

From over the trees Priscilla called, "Mirta? You here?"

Lucy's head snapped up. "Ohno." She squeaked.

"Lucy?"

"Fairies!" Lucy yelled, "It really doesn't like..." And her armor lit up. Each piece glowed. Magic circles sprang into being under her feet and she flew into the air.

Mirta took off after her. "Lucy, wait!"

"It's not me!"

Above the trees, wind whipped at them. The fairies had stopped a hundred yards away, startled by Lucy's new armor. Kimmy flew forward hesitantly.

Mirta was close enough to see when part of the armor broke itself off, curled into a tube and started shooting.

The fairies screamed and scattered.

Mirta grabbed for the weapon. It spun around and smacked her in the back. Wings suddenly numb, Mirta fell. She hit what felt like an explosion of leaves, then a solid branch that she managed to grab onto. "Ow..."

She got back up, not really injured. "Lucy! Turn it off!"

"I can't!" Came faintly back.

Mirta groaned and launched herself into the air. She dodged a barrage of spinning rings and the grasping vine of some plant Priscilla had awakened. Her friends were fighting back. "Guys! Stop it!"

Selene dropped down next to Mirta to yell back, "_She_ attacked _us_!"

"Lucy doesn't want to, it's the weapon!"

Something pinged the ground next to them. Selene said, "Sure it is."

"It doesn't like fairies! You guys have to get away, maybe then Lucy can get it off!" Bursts of magic were going off all around them. Someone was going to get hurt any minute now and nobody else was close enough to hear, even if they were listening. Mirta's only idea was to blow her friends far enough away that the weapon would forget about them. And hope later her friends would forget about being blown around!

Lucy waved a gauntleted hand and a wave of force slapped Priscilla into the trees. The red-haired fairy didn't sink far, the trees politely holding her up, but she put her hand to her head and didn't get up.

"Priscilla!" Several fairies rushed to help, Mirta rushed to help, but she could see they were going to be too late.

Lucy lowered her weapon to point at the stunned fairy. And... froze.

Priscilla managed to roll out of the way and climb down through the branches. Lucy didn't move, still aiming at the empty leaves.

"Lucy?" Mirta called, and risked drifting closer. Lucy's armor rippled, the plates moving slightly and glowing. Mirta added, "Thanks for not shooting Priscilla. Are you all right?"

Another long minute passed, then the armor opened and Lucy fell out.

It was so sudden that Mirta grabbed for her, automatically, from way too far away. Lolina was quicker, and got a tower of rings under Lucy, breaking her fall.

The armor whipped around, shooting. A sudden breeze swept Mirta and the fairies out of the way.

Selene shouted, "Kimmy, can you slow it down?"

"Ok!" Kimmy's charmix lit up and an opalescent bubble glowed between her hands.

The armor took aim at her and Mirta blasted it with what should have been a curse of dancing, but didn't appear to work. It occurred to her that maybe a _rust _curse would work. If she could invent one. Really fast.

Kimmy threw the bubble, which expanded to the size of a house in midair. Inside it the armor's whip-fast movements slowed to a crawl.

With a wordless battle cry, Selene dived into the bubble from above.

Everyone froze. Mirta's half-thought spell evaporated from her mind as she watched Selene fall in slow motion. She grabbed the armor and...

"She's wrestling it." Kimmy said in bland disbelief.

Except that Selene was winning. The armor was already shrinking, folding into nothing the way it had appeared from nothing before. After a minute of struggle only the long tube-weapon was left. Selene had it between her hands—one hand was o_ver the dangerous end_—and was pushing with all her strength. Kimmy's spell collapsed and Selene barely got her wings open in time. She landed, still focusing on crushing the device. Through gritted teeth she said, "You, shut down! You're... just... a... _thing_! A weapon is just a _thing_!"

It gave up the fight. Selene held up the jewel and finished in satisfaction, "...and I'm a warrior." Just to make things perfect, a new charmix bloomed on her chest.

Kimmy ran to Selene, cheering, and Priscilla appeared from the forest, dusting herself off and limping but not badly hurt.

Off to one side Lolina was sitting next to Lucy. The witch lay very still on the ground.

"Lucy! Loli, is she all right?"

"I thought so!" Lolina's voice quavered. "She didn't hit the ground that hard, and I did a healing spell, but she won't wake up!"

Mirta drew on her gloomix and cast her favorite healing charm. It flowed off Lucy like water spilled on a rock; as far as the magic could tell, Lucy wasn't injured. She was just asleep.

"It's this." Selene called. She came over, walking slowly in exhaustion. "The... device still has a contract with Lucy, so she could control it if she were awake, and it doesn't want her to because it wants to attack all fairies and Lucy wouldn't let it."

Mirta tried to make that make sense. "Is Lucy all right? Don't let that thing hurt her!"

"I told it not to. I think it's just un-contracting itself and then Lucy will wake up." Selene sat down heavily. Priscilla made soft grass grow under all of them, especially under the sleeping Lucy.

Kimmy raised her hand and sent up a magical firework. "It'd be really nice if the grownups came soon and we didn't have to walk back. Selene, are you sure you can control that thing? It's not going to take you over is it?"

"I'm fine. It's just a matter of willpower."

"Don't get an ego." Priscilla said without any particular anger.

And then a whole fleet of balloons appeared over the horizon.

The grownups arrived, with the local police and an ambulance. Mirta stood by being worried while healers loaded Lucy into the ambulance, but the professionals also seemed to think she was fine.

Then a boy with pale hair stepped down from a balloon gondola and Lolina Grabbed Mirta's arm, "Hey, it's him! The ghost! Ohmigod, he's even cuter in the flesh!"

Mirta had to agree with that one. Her first impulse was to step back and let Lolina say hello first. But... instead, she stepped forward. "Hi!"

"Hi, um..."

"I'm Mirta. That's Lolina, Priscilla, Kimmy, and Selene over there."

"Orion. Nice to meet you. Mom's... uh..." He looked around, then pointed at a khaki-clad woman who'd cornered Selene into conversation and was now dragging her over to join the other fairies.

Orion looked pained. "This is going to take forever."

"What is?"

"The interrogation!"Orion whispered spookily.

Before anyone could say anything else, Starria reached them. She pulled a notebook and pen out of nowhere and said, "You saw an ancient device in combat? Tell me everything!"

It did take forever. Or at least a few hours, and the conversation was still going on inside the tent where dinner was, theoretically anyway, being prepared.

Lucy had of course been rushed back to the hospital in Magix, but the authorities had decided that the fairies might as well stay for the rest of their planned time. Miss Faragonda had agreed, so here they were back at camp.

Mirta had escaped the general victory chatter and come outside. She climbed up on a rock and sat there trying to think and not getting very far.

Someone else ducked out of the tent and stretched in the cool evening air. Orion looked around and saw Mirta. "Hey. Want some company?"

Mirta scooted over, making room on the rock, and Orion climbed up.

"In case I forgot to say it before, thanks for the whole saving my life thing."

"You're welcome." Mirta smiled. "What was it like being a ghost?"

"Weird. Very weird. Everything was sort of far away even things that were right there. Even just a bush that's two feet away, I could walk all day and only get an inch closer to it. And we didn't know if whatever shot us down was coming back, and we didn't know why we were stuck there. At the hospital they said a... greater elemental grabbed us?"

Mirta nodded. "It didn't mean any harm. It just didn't know it had to catch spirit _and_ body to actually rescue you guys."

"Ugh. Well, at least it'll make a good story later."

Mirta laughed. "That's a good way to think of it I guess."

"Penny for your thoughts? Didn't look like you were having cheerful ones."

Mirta sighed and tugged on the beaded tail in her hair. "I didn't do very well in that fight. We were in a fight before with some bully witches and I was great, but this time I didn't know what to do."

Orion rested his chin on his hands and thought about that. "Well from what I heard, this time you were trying to protect both sides. That's a pretty crazy situation. Is your friend ok, the one who found the device?"

"Yeah, Miss Griffin called. Lucy's fine. She just doesn't remember anything since she got in a contract with the jewel. Is that normal?"

"It makes sense. If your friend- Lucy?- if she remembered, she'd still be able to control it, and it couldn't make a new contract with someone else."

"Stupid thing." Mirta muttered. Orion didn't comment. "I just—Lucy came all this way looking for something to make her cool, and she actually _found_ something and it didn't think she was cool enough either! It isn't fair. And I didn't even get a chance to do anything."

"Doesn't sound like there's much you could do."

"I wish Lucy could believe..." and Mirta realized where that was going, and realized she hadn't actually admitted it yet. And once she admitted it Orion would definitely not want to sit out here and talk any more. "Um. I'm a witch."

"I know you're a witch."

That was not what she'd expected. "What? You do?"

"Sure. You smell like a witch." Orion grinned.

Mirta guessed what he meant, but grumbled anyway. "Hey! Don't say how people smell."

"Not that. I can smell magic. Fairies smell like flowers, witches smell more dusty and herby. Sorcerers smell like incense. You smell like a witch."

It wasn't weird to smell magic; plenty of people could do that. What was weird was a normal guy talking to a witch like it didn't matter. It always mattered. Nice guys didn't hang out with witches. Well, maybe guys who lived a million realms away from anywhere would talk to a witch who saved their life. That was probably it. "I'm not a normal witch. I can transform wings like a fairy. I know Lucy could do it too, if she just believed she could. Then maybe she'd think she was good enough without always trying to impress people."

There was a pause. Orion must have heard about her before, since he didn't ask about the witch-with-wings thing. After a while he said, "Maybe she just can't. Sometimes people can't believe things, even if the evidence is right there. Whole civilizations make the same mistakes over and over because they can't believe the obvious things will happen. So... Hey, you want to see what we're doing here? Private tour."

That shook Mirta out of her gloomy thoughts. "Sure!"

They hopped off the rock and Orion led the way behind camp, between some boring looking trees and big rocks the fairies hadn't investigated before. A round hatch poked out of the ground.

"Down here. I think this was a secret entrance to... something. Escape tunnels maybe." Orion opened the door with a spell and he and Mirta conjured lights. Inside, steps led downwards. Eventually the floor leveled out and they were in a round room with tunnels leading off in three directions.

"Where do they go?" Mirta asked.

"Two are caved in, the other one connects to another room like this about five miles away. Nobody's had time to explore further. But here's the really interesting thing."

The walls were colored. From the floor to higher than Mirta's head, with a mass of little pictures. They looked like... well, actually like the doodles in the margins of Lolina's notebooks. "Doodling?"

"Mom's official hypothesis is that someone was posted on guard here and got bored."

There were little stick figures, animal shapes, buildings and drawings of an intelligent device weapon. Across the middle of the wall four feet wide was a symbol that was probably the local version of a flag. The artist had filled it with proudly marching and flying warriors and their winged horses, winged cats, and dragons. "Dragons?"

"Here's the really great thing, look down here. Five eggs. But he only draws four dragons."

"I guess they were called Cloud Knights because they rode flying animals. Hang on, if someone was stuck on guard duty maybe there was a guard from the other side too, maybe it was his weapon Lucy found! Were they witches or fairies? Because that weapon really didn't like the fairies but it didn't mind me."

"That's a good idea! It'd be great if we can figure out where your friend got that weapon. We've been here months and never found one that worked. As for witches-or-fairies, that's the big question. Both sides had armor for wings, so we assumed fairies. Or maybe they were your kind of witch."

It was cold underground and Mirta and Orion headed back up the steps. Outside the night was warm. "Have you ever found anything about my kind of witch?"

"Once or twice there've been ancient pictures of people with wings and pointy hats but who knows. The stuff we find doesn't always make a lot of sense. Like the poor idiot down there, he might've been drawing his own comic book."

Mirta laughed. "So you always just... do this? Live in the middle of nowhere and dig stuff up with your mom?"

"Yep. My Dad's not around anymore, he caught a curse back when I was a baby. Mom keeps trying to send me to school in Magix but I'd rather dig stuff up. Maybe we'll find the first inhabited world, or figure out what started the feud between fairies and witches. Did you know temples to the great dragon go back more than a million years?"

"Really? Until when? Bloom never caught anyone trying to worship her."

"Whoa, you know Princess Bloom?"

They stared at each other for a second, Mirta still thinking about the weirdness of temples to... ok, the great dragon as the force that spread magic throughout the universe that made sense to make temples about, but the dragonfire as in _Bloom_, who sometimes came to breakfast in her bathrobe without her hair combed... "Sure, we have classes together. She's really nice."

"You're not scared of her?" Orion asked in surprise.

"Scared? Why?"

Realizing he'd said something weird Orion hurried to explain, "The whole dragonfire thing. I mean, she could burn up Alfea if she got mad. Sorry, I just..."

"I guess she could. But Bloom's not like that, she wouldn't go bad on us. Hey, come to Magix and you can meet Bloom yourself. I'm not superbest friends with the famous fairies but we could all get pizza or something."

"You've got a deal! Next time we're in Magix."

Mirta laughed, though the gloomy part of her mind insisted on thinking Orion wouldn't want to hang out with her after meeting the most beautiful fairies in Magix. At least the most famous ones all had boyfriends—that was a good thought!

"You get to visit civilization sometimes then?" She asked.

"Oh, sure. Mum's a pretty popular speaker at conferences. I just try to see all the movies while I can, or the dragon wrangling at Red Fountain. If I ever do go there I'm majoring in dragons!"

Mirta found herself grinning. Silly, to get this happy just because a boy was talking to her. "Dragons are amazing. We snuck in once, at the beginning of the year-"

"Seriously? Fairies?"

"No, at Cloud Tower. Some seniors stole our books and wouldn't return them unless we snuck into the dragon stable. So we did, Lucy and Alicia and me. We actually got inside, the dragons were all asleep in a pile like kittens. They were blue and smooth, like snakes. But then they woke up and started flaming and we got back to school with soot on our clothes."

"That's a great story. Did the seniors give your books back?"

"Mmhm."

They'd reached the tent and there was Priscilla, trying to grow strawberries outside. "Hi you guys. Food's on."

"You're using magic? Aren't you too tired?"

"Maybe that's why I can't grow anything." Priscilla shrugged and stood up. "Let's eat. Hey Orion, maybe you can get your mom to stop talking about weapons long enough to tell us what we're going to be doing here for the next few weeks."


	10. Chapter 10

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

We're taking a short jump ahead here, skipping over the rest of the girls' archeology vacation, the end of Year 2, and summer vacation. Nothing terribly interesting happened all that time, well, the Winx saved the world but that's for other people to write about. We rejoin our characters on the first day of the new school year...

Part 10

In the Magix town hall, under the watchful eyes of the carved nymphs above the door, business was proceeding as usual.

The first hearing of the day had been about a used items shop selling cursed pots and pans. A detective had been assigned to make sure the shop obeyed all the Enchantment Disclosure laws in the future. The second hearing was about a proposed apartment building in Blackwood Swamp. The council found in favor of the undines. Then the owner of a large pottery factory proposed to expand his projects to include... a lot of chemical terms that were apparently ingredients you could use in pottery glazes. A group of citizens brought up concerns about possible pollution but they hadn't had time to get a good study done.

That started a big argument. While people shouted back and forth, a teenage girl crept up to the podium. She wasn't very tall, and seemed to be trying to make herself look smaller. She had a pale, freckled face and rusty-red hair with a few beads tied in.

"Um... uh, he's lying actually." She said, ducked back when she heard her voice amplified by the microphone, and tried again, "The new product would make very bad pollution and would kill half the trees in the swamp in five years. It's not directly dangerous to people but having a colony of trolls with no trees for shade would be dangerous. Also sir, if you try to use the new glaze your factory will be hit by a tornado next month."

It took a minute for the quiet speech to register.

"A tornado?" Someone asked.

"Yes ma'am."

The mayor gave her an impatient look. "Miss, how could you possibly know something like that?"

"I'm a witch. I have a contract with a major air elemental. It asked me to tell you. And, well, it's strong enough to get past the weather spells so you should listen to me."

The factory owner went red-faced. "You're lying! One of them paid you to sabotage my company!"

The girl shrank further at being yelled at, but made a quick gesture. A breeze swept the room, stirring papers and people's hair. Outside the wind rose to a howl then dropped just as suddenly. "Please Mr. Mayor, do a study on that new product." She bowed politely and headed for the door as another argument broke out.

Mirta made it out a side door into the late-summer sunshine without anyone grabbing her. Her cat had apparently found the right door with feline psychic powers and was waiting outside. He stood up and stretched and Mirta copied him, suddenly feeling better. The worst part of the day was over.

"I hate talking in front of people, Hex! It's scarier than monsters!"

But tasks like this were her half of the bargain with the sky spirit, in exchange for using its energy to power up her magic. It was a fair deal, just not always fun.

The beginning-of-term party was at Cloud Tower this year. The parties had been going on for a good decade, supposedly as a gesture of goodwill between the two schools, but they always ended... interestingly. Last year Stormy had steered a mess of hail and gale-force winds right at Alfea. The year before that all the fairies had found themselves stuck to their chairs and had to hop home with them still attached! Most of the student body turned out just to see what the prank would be this year.

Mirta and Hexen arrived to glares from the Cloud Tower side, something that would have seemed a lot more scary if she hadn't been glared at by scary grownups already today. She sighed, shot a quick smile at Lucy but didn't wave, and looked for an empty seat on the Alfea side. Lucy rolled her eyes and shrugged but didn't risk saying hello. Witch/fairy rivalry was alive and well and Lucy wanted to have friends at her own school too.

Mirta's group of friends was all there, chattering excitedly about their summers. Lolina displayed a brand-new charmix, so new she couldn't keep herself from summoning it into being every few minutes just to admire it. "Mirtaaaaa! Hi! Hi Hexen, how was you summer?"

"Meow!"

"He had a great time keeping the yard mouse-free." Mirta said.

Katy Spika leaned around Lolina to meow a hello. "Meow! Me—sorry, spent the last three months in cat form! Mom and Dad thought I should connect with my inner feline. Had a great time, but missed candy! Can't taste sweets when you're a cat!"

Priscilla, her fiery hair freshly cropped, waved cheerfully. "I can't wait to get the year started—or at least the party. I was bored to death over break!"

"You signed up for advanced aerial combat?" Selene asked her friend.

"You know it! Francis told me the paladin Miss F invited couldn't make it so Professor Avalon will be teaching that on top of philosophy."

Mirta asked, "What's he like, the real Professor Avalon?"

"Oh, it's so weird. He looks the same, but his voice is way deeper. The fake didn't bother to get the voice right, but I guess it copied the real guy's personality almost perfect. He's nice, but remembering the other one it's pretty creepy."

"How was your summer, Mirta?" Lolina asked.

Mirta shrugged. "It was all right."

Summer had been... tense. It was her first long visit home after transforming into something that looked like a fairy but wasn't and her parents hadn't been quite sure how to treat her. And there was the broomstick her father had promised to buy her as a reward for completing her second year at Cloud Tower, only she hadn't been _at_ Cloud Tower and she no longer needed any help with flying. Mirta knew her parents still loved her, that was obvious, but that didn't mean things were normal between them.

So she'd spent a lot of her summer with Lucy, exploring the wilds of their home realm and getting their friendship back on track. The other great part of summer had been the letters from Orion—not a fact she wanted to share with her friends, who were typically fairylike on the subject of matchmaking.

She was saved from having to say more by the arrival of Alice, wearing a severe slate-gray dress that looked stunning on her, and trailed by a blue-haired little hurricane.

"Ohmigosh!"

"You're behind on the news. That's Zendy."

The pixie sailed over the crowd, trailing glitter behind her. She circled around, saw Mirta, and skidded to a stop. "Why is there a witch here?"

Hexen stood up in Mirta's lap and hissed.

"That's Mirta, she's ok. She's an honorary fairy."

Over on the Cloud Tower side someone said, "She's the freak."

Zendy flew down to look Mirta in the face. "Oh. You're something different."

"Yeah I know."

"Zendy-" Alice called. The chairs were full, so she had to sit a few rows away.

"Sorry, where are my manners! Nice to meet you, Mirta!"

"Nice to meet you." Mirta shook with the pixie, hand to finger. Politeness done, Zendy flew back to perch on Alice's shoulder.

Mirta turned back to the rest of her friends and whispered, "When did Alice-?"

"Tell you later!" Priscilla whispered back as the headmistresses stepped up to their podiums. The students all turned to face front and quieted down as the speeches began.

"Girls, welcome to Cloud Tower-"

"-and Alfea-"

"The two most prestigious schools of magic in a hundred realms. This year we hope..." and Miss Griffin was off, talking about the wonders of magic.

Hexen tapped Mirta's chin with a paw. She turned to look. Ah. At the back of the Cloud Tower section, Megara was looking off to the side and smirking.

Miss Griffin introduced the Cloud Tower teachers, Ediltrude and Zarathustra and Professor Bitterroot, who all summoned illusions of darkness to frighten the first-year students, then Miss Faragonda did a quick roll call of the Alfea teachers. Students cheered for their favorite teachers.

Then the two headmistresses gave a speech about creating harmony between the two schools and between fairies and witches in general. That was new, or at least Mirta hadn't heard it last year. Maybe the whole Army of Decay thing had scared them.

"In conclusion, I'd like you all to do your very best-"

"Or your very worst!" Miss Griffin put in.

"...to improve yourselves this year!" Miss Faragonda finished.

Miss Griffin clapped her hands and tables of snacks appeared behind the students.

Oooh, there was hot punch! And cauldron cookies, and cheese on toothpicks and little hotdogs! And a giant five-layer cake with purple frosting! Mirta had been too nervous to eat before the council meeting this morning, and faced with piles of her favorite goodies her stomach growled.

"Look at that cake!" Lolina chirped, "I hope it's chocolate!"

The speeches over, the students broke apart into groups to get to know each other or meet up with friends or talk to their new teachers. There was a general rush for the food.

Mirta grabbed a cup and plate and loaded up. Lolina was waiting for the big cake. Priscilla and Katy loaded up with meat kabobs and Alice shuddered at the thought of spicy witch food.

"Aw c'mon, just because they're _called_ cauldron cookies doesn't mean they were cooked in the same pot with potions." Mirta told her.

"No fish." Katy mourned.

Mirta noticed her fellow witches were standing well back. In fact, there were only fairies around the buffet. Mirta wasn't the only person to notice, but before anyone could say anything, the spell triggered.

The beautiful purple frosted cake split open and bugs and snakes poured out, an endless tide of shiny backs and scales, much more than the cake should have been able to hold. The screaming began. Half the fairies took to the air. The other half started stamping.

"H-hey!" Mirta yelped. She put down her plate and cast a quick wind, sweeping the fairies aside. "I don't care about bugs but those snakes are innocent critters! Be careful!"

There were shrieks of outrage and someone yelled, "Witch!" which was accurate. Mirta scooped up a snake in each hand, "Oh stop it Kylie, they're not poisonous. Can somebody help me out here?"

Her friends were too far away. Francis was more interested in yelling at the frightened fairies for being frightened. Siliciya looked game, and levitated a handful of snakes above stamping danger. "What are you going to do with them?"

Mirta hadn't thought that far. She hadn't actually meant to start the Great Snake Rescue. "Um, find something to put them in? Turn them loose in the swamp later I guess."

_Everyone_ was staring. For the second time that day Mirta was the focus of a lot of unfriendly eyeballs.

And then, to make things even worse, a snake bit her. It didn't hurt like a bite; it hurt like a _spell._ The snake poofed into nothingness. And Mirta started turning blue, with yellow spots. All over.

She wasn't the only one to get bit. Fairies were turning colors all over, and the witches were laughing their heads off. Mirta wanted to cast an invisibility spell on herself, preferably a permanent one, but she couldn't. So she went back for her plate.

Back at Alfea, after everyone had been returned to their proper skin colors Miss Faragonda gave the new-year speeches to the different grades while everyone else unpacked. Mirta got her stuff set up in her room and made sure the kitchen staff knew to deliver Hexen's food too.

Kimmy rushed in, trailing suitcases. "Hi Mirta! My ship just got here!"

"I'll help. Which room are you?" Together they hefted Kimmy's luggage to her room. "You're a fairy of time, why didn't you just speed up the ship?"

"You can't use magic like that without official permission."

The witch and fairy arrived as the second-years were leaving the auditorium and the third-years waiting to go in. Kimmy commented, "That was us last year, worrying about our charmix. And it turned out fine, even Loli got hers."

"It'll be something new for you to worry about this year!" Mirta told her friend cheerfully.

"What about you? Don't witches get new powers by doing evil deeds and stuff? But if you tried anything evil Miss Grizelda would give you detention."

Mirta made a face. She'd been worrying about that actually; how was she going to keep up with her friends without doing something awful to get more power?

The auditorium emptied and the third-years filed in. Mirta and Kimmy met up with the others. Their conversation had turned to boys. Alice hadn't just gotten a pixie; she'd gotten serious with her boyfriend Jared. Priscilla was just ending a story, "...and it turns out he was dating some underage girl too, _and_ trying to pick up princess Aisha! What a loser."

"No kidding! Are you all right?"

Priscilla snorted, "I'm fine, I just hope he learned a good enough lesson about respecting girls."

Lolina giggled, "Well if Aisha had to rescue him from the river he probably did."

Up at the front of the room Miss Faragonda was standing at the podium, with the teachers sitting in chairs behind her. The headmistress rang a little bell for silence and began her speech. "Good afternoon girls. I'm glad to see all of you back for another year—and back to your own colors, after the party this morning."

Some students laughed and cheered.

"Last year's goal was to attain your charmix, which all of you did admirably..."

More cheering and some high fives, but these faded quickly as everyone went quiet to hear what would come next.

When silence fell, Miss Faragonda continued, "This year you are challenged to find your enchantix." She raised her arms and transformed, wide wings unfolding behind her as her sensible dress blurred into something shimmering silver. A moment later she shifted back. "To win your enchantix you must save someone from your own realm, at great risk to yourself."

Mirta's friends looked at each other, not sure about the 'great risk' part.

Up at the front Kadija asked, "Wait, will someone be put in danger just so..."

"Not at all. The magic simply arranges for you to be there when danger strikes. There is no shortage of trouble in the universe.

"If you are worried by the thought of great risk and sacrifice- you should be. This is a dangerous quest, as many true quests must be. Some of you may not complete it. Some of you may not wish to try, and there is no shame in that. Anyone who wishes to be excused, please see me within the week."

Miss Faragonda paused to let the gravity of that sink in. The fairies looked at each other. Would anyone ask to be excused? Risk your life or give up the chance to become stronger?

Mirta felt a little left out. No enchantix for witches—and the Cloud Tower graduation requirement was nothing she was ever going to do. She wondered suddenly if she was even going to be able to graduate at all. Miss Faragonda had probably thought of that already...

When the worried murmurs stopped, the headmistress continued, "Now for the good news! To aid you in your quests, much of this school year will be spent off campus. I'm working with your teachers to design outings to different realms where you may have a chance to earn your enchantix as well as experiencing different cultures and styles of magic, _and_ complete the required curriculum.

Last of all I would like to introduce Professor Avalon, with us this year."

"In person." The professor added in a deep baritone voice markedly different from the "Professor Avalon" they had known last year.

"You may ask your teachers any questions you have—starting bright and early tomorrow morning!"

And that was it. Mirta listened to the hubbub of excited, frightened fairies around her. She heard,

"This will be a cinch!"

"I'm not so sure..."

"We'll be full fairies!"

"Bet Bloom gets it first."

"It sounds pretty dangerous. Isn't there an easier way?"

"I say bring it on!" Priscilla said.

"What if you rescue somebody and it turns out they're from the wrong realm?" Selene asked sensibly.

"Our job as fairies is to use our magic to help _everyone_ in need. Wouldn't you have saved them anyway?"

Kimmy pointed, "I think the teachers are going into hiding." Indeed, the teachers were slinking out the back door. Probably they thought it best to let everyone think about this whole enchantix thing on their own before answering questions.

Most of the students still had to unpack, so they gathered for dinner late. Ortensia was already holding court with Karina sitting on the table next to her and Siliciya leaning on a chair behind them. Lolina made a beeline for that table, with mirta trailing behind her.

"What's the news? Working on the 'Fairies To Watch' list already?"

"Of course! The rankings start on day one!"

"So, are there any interesting firsties this year?"

That was the big question and other students hung around the table to listen.

"Well." Ortensia opened her notebook, "It's no question, the most interesting first-year is the princess of the Harmonic Realm."

"I thought that was Musa."

"Nope. Here's the deal: Prince Bo-Shan dropped out of the royal succession to get married. The crown passed to some cousin and now Gallatea is princess of the whole shebang, unless Musa or her father get reinstated for some reason, which they show no signs of wanting but I bet Gallatea's parents are watching them _very_ closely."

"Makes me glad I'm a commoner." Selene said.

Karina gasped. "Ohmigosh, I forgot to tell you! Miky's getting married! Her grandpa set her up with some prince!"

There was general gasping and cries of outrage. Mirta didn't know Princess Miky well, but she was popular and she seemed pretty nice. And nobody deserved to be stuck with some random guy they didn't even know!

After that topic was exhausted Ortensia waved for silence, "Ok ok, back to the new class. That's Nova from Solaria, Comfrey from Linphea, there's some duchess from Arcadia City around here somewhere. There's a girl from Sirius, Lupa, just look for the ears."

"A wolf fairy?"

"Therian. A lupine therian fairy." Kimmy corrected.

Alice tugged on her hair thoughtfully. "Many of you have first-year students from you realms. Keep an eye on them just in case. You know the kind of dangerous stuff we did our first year."

"No kidding!"

Mirta noticed someone who should have been here for the gossipfest and wasn't- where was Princess Stella? She should be right in the middle of things. But Stella and the other girls were at a table by themselves, talking seriously.

Alice noticed where Mirta was looking, "They just got back from Andros. I guess something happened."

Ortensia heard her voice and pounced, "Speaking of news, you got a pixie! How'd that happen? Talk!"

Alice blushed, but her voice was calm. "While I was working here over the summer, a delegation came from the pixie village to talk to Miss Faragonda. Zendy was one of them. I met her and we bonded." She shrugged like it was no big deal.

According to the textbook, bonding with a pixie was a big deal. A big huge giant life-changing deal, but if Alice wanted to play it cool she could.

Karina asked, "So... can we meet her?"

"See if she wants to meet you." Priscilla shot back.

Before anybody could get grouchy the pixie herself fluttered over their heads. Her sparkling blue hair hung down past her feet and she was wearing a glittering purple dress. "I'd love to meet all of you of course! I'm Zendy, a pixie of diplomacy. Does anyone have any questions?" She landed on Alice's head and curtseyed.

Alice didn't look too happy to be used as a stage, but she held her head still.

Mirta wormed her way out of the crowd and got her food. She said hello to a few new students, and waved to Flora who gave a worried-looking little wave back. Something was up, but nobody was telling the rest of the student body. Must be a Winx-only problem. Mirta felt sorry for them; trouble already, after they'd spent half of last year battling the Trix and Lord Darkar!

The Trix were frozen in the Omega dimension with the rest of the realm's worst criminals. They wouldn't be a problem this year at least. But like Miss Faragonda said, there would always be new problems...

"_She_ is going to be a problem." Katy growled under her breath, startling Mirta out of her gloomy thoughts.

"What? Who will?"

Katy glared. Across the cafeteria a girl with gray-furred wolf ears poking up through her hair glared back.

Wolf fairy meets cat fairy. Mirta smiled to herself. "Her name's Lupa, Ortensia said. I'm sure we'll be friends."

Katy's hair was fluffed up in instinctual loathing. Mirta lifted Katy's plate so the fairy's fish dinner was in front of her eyes. Katy let herself be distracted.

Across the table Kimmy was writing busily between bites of her dinner. She waved the pen hello as Mirta and Katy sat down and greeted them, "So, about this enchantix business..."

Priscilla said, "My mom has hers. She never told me how she got it."

"What if you don't know what realm someone is from? I know we're supposed to save everybody but really, honestly, maybe it makes me a bad fairy but..." Kimmy shook her head.

"I'm not a fairy and I totally understand. I'd want to know what kind of bargain I was making."

"This destiny stuff weirds me out a little." Selene said. "I wish I had my device weapon."

"Weapons don't help against destiny."

"Weapons help against everything."

A pixie voice chirped, "What a violent fairy."

"That wasn't very diplomatic, pixie of diplomacy." Selene shot back.

Alice sat down next to Mirta. "I feel very honored to have bonded with a pixie, but it's not always peaceful."

"I thought pixies were too magical to fight." Mirta said, watching Zendy and Selene take verbal potshots at each other. They both seemed to be having fun, but it also seemed about to get to the sticking-out-tongues stage.

"Zendy says there's a pixie of battle in her village."

"Really? Cool."

"Hey—I wonder if you could bond with a pixie. I mean, you aren't a normal witch."

Mirta shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know."

"Hey Zendy! My friend Mirta's sort of a... um... witch with fairylike talents. Do you think a pixie could bond with her?"

Zendy looked at Mirta with a long silent stare that probably meant she was using magical senses. Mirta looked back and shrugged again.

"Nope. Definitely not. No way no how no witches."

Mirta wasn't surprised. Most people reacted that way. "Oh well. I don't think I could have a pixie anyway, Hexen would get jealous."

Alice blushed. "Sorry, I probably should've asked in private..."

"It's ok. I was curious too."

Zendy sat down next to Alice's plate, conjured pixie-sized silverware from somewhere, and helped herself. She was still looking at Mirta like the witch was some strange new life form. Mirta guessed Discorda hadn't mentioned her around the pixie village.

It was a relief to get back to her room after dinner. Mirta was happy to be back with her friends, but it was really noisy with everyone talking at once! She rousted Hexen out of her suitcase and finished putting away the last few bits. Her schoolbooks were heaped on the desk, and there was a pile of mail and school announcements there too. Class schedule, a list of clubs and sports to try out for, a map of the campus, school rules...

Was there even going to be time for extracurricular activities with everyone running around trying to rescue people?

The mail was a bit better. Lots of shops had sent coupons for free pens or notebooks or cheap pizza. There was a note from the vet reminding her to get Hexen's spells updated. Lucy had sent a note with her new room number. And there was a fat envelope from some realm Mirta had never heard of. That would be from Orion.

_ Hi! Look at the pictures. We went to a DRAGON GRAVEYARD. The guardian spirit wanted Mum to help identify some treasure it couldn't remember. Turned out to be cursed, but the guardian spirit took care of it- probably by being scarier than ten curses. It's the GHOST of a DEAD DRAGON. Scariest thing I ever saw, even though it was totally polite. _

_ Now we're in the water realm of Atlan, where civilization sank under the ocean in a demon war ten thousand years ago. There are supposed to be records of the spells the prehistoric fairies used to evict demons from this plane of existence, but nobody's sure where they were kept. All the interesting stuff is underwater and I'm stuck on the boat learning to cook in a tiny kitchen and trying to get my 'sea legs' whatever that means. Ah the adventurous life of a traveling archeological assistant!_

_ Mum gave me the basics of the whole enchantix thing your friends are aiming for this year. She wishes everybody good luck. Actually I think she regrets not trying for her enchantix when she was at Alfea._

_ Are you going to try for yours? Is there a witch version? (Is it rude to ask? But I'm curious!) Hopefully the witch version doesn't include the 'great sacrifice' part—I need you alive and well to send me goodies from civilization!_

_ I'll keep you posted on the wonders of being stuck on a boat, keep me updated on life in the big city. _

The letter was short but the pictures made up for it. They were just small holograms but Orion had captured the feel of the dragon graveyard under a stormy sky. There was a photo of a skull the size of a house, here a rib cage so big you could drive a car through it. Small bones and gems littered the ground; Orion had photographed his own shoe to show it. In one picture Orion's mother Starria was reading dragon runes carved into a stone slab the size of a mattress. It was surrounded by a pile of treasure higher than the fairy's head, but she ignored both the treasure and the animated dragon skeleton looming over her.

Mirta had heard of dragon graveyards. There was a little paragraph in her magicobiology book that said dragons came to special places to die, to leave their mortal remains and their treasure in the care of the guardian spirit. Dragons thought you could take it with you, and the guardian would stop anyone trying to take it back!

These would be _draco nobilis_, the true dragon, more intelligent than humans but so rare nobody had seen one in years. They might be extinct already.

A dragon graveyard! Mirta's summer at home had made for much more boring letters—she'd spent most of her time helping her mother with the potion-ingredients business and who'd want to read all the details of that? Well, she could write about the council meeting this morning, ugh, speaking in public was awful...

Well maybe tomorrow something else worth writing about would happen. She thought about what to say while she brushed her teeth, got into her pajamas, and said good night to her cat.


	11. Chapter 11

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 11

The first day of school dawned bright and way too early for Mirta, who was used to sleeping in! Hexen helped by hopping up onto the bed and walking over Mirta's legs until she woke up. Eventually the sleepy witch hauled herself out of bed and got ready for class.

She came down to breakfast with her hair still wet from the shower, wearing her favorite pumpkin shirt for good luck.

There were a lot of new faces in the cafeteria. The wolf fairy was chowing down on a plate of sausages. Karina was chatting with a pair of identical twins. A girl with silver hair- not blonde but actual metallic silver- was sitting by herself. She didn't have any food, but was holding a photograph. Her entire body language said 'homesick.' Mirta hesitated, then went over to her.

"Hey, want me to show you what's good to eat? They make good stuff on the first day."

The silver-haired girl looked up. Her eyes were silver too, like mirrors. "No thank you. I do not eat."

Mirta blinked. "Oh... well... I'm Mirta. If you need help finding your classes or anything..."

The girl smiled faintly. "I see. You are demonstrating benevolence."

Now Mirta recognized the language, and the clipped accent. "You're from Zenith aren't you?"

"Yes. My name is Vecta. I am a fairy of artificial intelligence."

"Well welcome to Alfea. This is a great school, give it a few days, I think you'll get used to it."

"I expect so. I had not predicted this emotional reaction to separation from my family. It is unnecessarily severe."

"That's called being homesick, pretty much everyone gets it. Are those your parents?"

"Yes." Vecta turned the photograph so Mirta could see. There were seven people in it. "They designed, built and raised me."

Mirta's train of thought derailed briefly, but she caught herself and only said, "It must be great having such a big family."

"Much more logical than the standard two parents required for biological reproduction. I would like to speak more but there are only ten minutes left before class starts and you require nutrition, correct?"

Yikes! "Correct! I'll see you later ok!" And Mirta ran for the food.

Mirta's first class, which she entered still stuffing down the last of a bagel, was called Arts of Rulership and it was new this year. The teacher was Miss DuFour, who taught the etiquette class too. The teacher welcomed everyone and talked a bit about how royals have a great responsibility to their people.

Kylie mimed, 'blah blah blah.' It was a speech everybody at Alfea had heard, even the nonroyals.

"...and this class will give you some practical experience in keeping a kingdom running." Miss DuFour clapped her hands and a map unrolled from the ceiling. "This is our realm. Each of you will be assigned a kingdom, accessed through the school computers. Your assignment is to keep your land peaceful and your people happy."

The other students mostly looked confused, but they all logged in from their desks. Mirta got a small, rocky country in the west of the map. She named it Mirtania and made Hexen the crown prince. Mirtania's resources were clay and manufactured items- pretty boring. The people were grumpy because they didn't have enough iron for making tools. So the point of the game, and the grade, was to trade for the things you needed or else conquer a country and steal what you wanted.

Mirta invested half the royal budget in defense, some more in exploration, and some to buy supplies from neighboring countries. Kimmy's land had some fancy goats that grew expensive fur; goats would do well on rocky unfarmable dirt, if Kimmy would sell some...

That class passed quickly, and the students filed out in silence because they were all planning strategy.

Professor Avalon announced that the first unit of the semester would focus on, "The four basic heroic archetypes: fighting hero, magical hero, holy hero, and rogue hero, and how all fairies should try to combine the best qualities from each type. He invited everyone to attend a lecture at Red Fountain about 'The Heroic thief, Archetype or Contradiction?' with a special field trip to the Magix thieves' guild. Katy almost dozed off on her desk. Magicophilosophy could be a bit dense at times.

On the way out Selene grumbled, "Heroic thief my behind, a criminal's a criminal."

"But what about... whatsername.." Katy fumbled, "With the ponytail. She was a thief and a fairy."

Mirta couldn't remember the historic fairy's name either, but she'd heard the story back at Cloud Tower as an example of how mushy fairies were, since the thief fell in love with a detective.

In potionology Professor Palladium greeted his returning students with delight—then handed each fairy a box of five bottles. "One of these contains plain water, the rest contain various embarrassing but harmless potions. You may use any of the equipment in the room to identify them."

Lolina looked down at the box the up at her teacher and wailed, "On the first day?!"

In the next class Professor Wizgiz mercifully helped his students transform back to normal, shedding the feathers, antlers and mustaches gained from drinking the wrong potions. He also announced that this year would be devoted to full shapeshifting, changing not just a person's form, but their every cell.

Kylie made the connection—they could turn into boys! Priscilla asked why anyone would want to.

Vecta was in that class, because she had a special talent for shapeshifting. She demonstrated by shaping her normal pink hand into a silver-colored hammer.

Lolina whispered, "She gives me the creeps."

"She's nice, I met her." Mirta replied, not angrily. That hammer-hand _was_ pretty creepy.

"Full shapeshifting is fascinating." Alice said. "Sorcerers use it to help endangered species. Of course only very powerful magic users can do it, even if we get our enchantix we probably won't be able to permanently switch species."

Lolina sighed. "This is going to be the most boring class ever if we can't even do the stuff we're studying."

After the excitement of the magic classes it was a relief to get to History. There was a huge reading list, and they already had an assignment to write about the origin stories of their realms, but at least this was a class you'd leave in the same shape you entered.

Too bad Witches' Sphere had such a boring creation story. It had been built by magic as a vacation spot for witches to get away from the hustle and bustle of Coventry Island or Arcadia City. It had started as a witch-only realm but later the laws were changed to let fairies live there too. That was the whole history. Boring!

Not like Kimmy's realm, founded by the Nameless King and Queen Rose back in the depths of history. They were Kimmy's ancestors apparently, and the ancestors of most of the population.

Or Linphea, colonized by dryads who discovered the habitable moon of planet Marigold.

_Those_ worlds were interesting, but Mirta had to write about her boring one. Se left that class grouchy with a pile of assigned reading.

The others met her at lunch, all similarly grumpy and carrying piles of books.

"This much on the first day!" Lolina mourned.

"It makes sense. We'll be spending time away from school on our enchantix quests so the teachers need to give us our classwork quickly."

"It won't seem so overwhelming tomorrow when we don't have all our classes." Alice said serenely.

"I think Arts of Rulership will be harder than it looks." Kimmy said. "My country has a troll problem and I'm not sure whether to accept an alliance with Kylie."

This was the conclusion Mirta had come to. "I think some people will take it more seriously than others. I'm not sure how seriously we should be taking it—it's just a game after all and we'll never have to rule real countries."

"Miky will. Stella will. Kadija's people aren't exactly a kingdom but she's the next leader." Alice said seriously.

Mirta was glad she would never have to run a kingdom, but this talk of responsibility did bring up the question Mirta had been pondering half the summer. This was the last year of school. What was she going to do next? What realm had a place in it for an 'honorary fairy?' Her parents wanted her to move home and inherit the potions business, but Mirta didn't think she wanted to live in Witches' Sphere permanently. Her folks wanted her, but the neighbors didn't.

She was munching her sandwich, lost in thought, when Livy appeared in front of her face. Mirta jumped a little, startled. Then she said, "Let me guess, Miss Faragonda wants to see me?"

"You got it!"

"Ok, I'll go see her." Mirta stuffed her stuff in her backpack. "See you later guys."

"I'll save you a seat in Biology!"

"Thanks Katy!" Mirta hefted her backpack and headed upstairs.

Miss Faragonda was in the middle of something important; her desk was piled with papers and she had three connections open to the school's ethernet. Mirta peeked in. "Headmistress..?"

"Ah, come in Mirta. Don't mind this; it's always this way the first day of the new year. Everything you planned for suddenly needs a whole lot more work!" The headmistress chuckled; she seemed to be enjoying the work. "But I wanted to talk to you about your plans for this year. Since you can't get an enchantix like the other girls, is there anything else you'd like to do as your graduation thesis? Miss Griffin described the Cloud Tower graduation requirements, but I would prefer not to have my students raising the dark forces on school property."

"I'd prefer not to raise them!" Mirta said quickly. "What sort of thesis did you mean? Writing something?"

"Or discover something, any great deed would do. Truthfully I think the year ahead will present you with many opportunities to prove yourself ready to graduate, but it is best to have a plan in case nothing interesting happens."

Mirta immediately had an idea. "What if... I'd like to find out why witches and fairies don't get along. Miss Ediltrude at Cloud Tower said the fairies did something unfair back in ancient history that started the feud, but there's probably more to it. Do you think?"

"I think that's a fine idea. I don't know what you'll find, but the attempt alone is a heroic quest. I'll let Concorda know; perhaps there's something in the archives that could give you a direction."

"Thank you, Miss Faragonda! I was reading up on it over the summer, and nobody seems to know how it started. You don't, do you?"

The headmistress shook her head thoughtfully. "I learned in my history class that the witches tried to steal something precious from the fairies and were not to be trusted. Whether that's true or not, who knows? The historian who recorded it certainly believed it, but when you're speaking on a scale of thousands of years it's hard to trust anything for certain. I'll be interested to hear what you discover. Come back anytime if you have questions- anytime but now I'm afraid; alas, these papers must be filed."

Mirta smiled. "Compared to your job class doesn't look so bad! I'll see you later, Miss Faragonda!"

There were three more classes after lunch, then afternoon free time which Mirta spent writing a long letter to Orion and deciding which month-long and week-long classes she was going to try to do this year and marking them on her calender. Professor Palladium was going to be giving some lectures on magical animals in extreme environments, and there was the "Heroic thieves" lecture at Red Fountain and Miss DuFour said she was doing a short class on elven culture which Mirta wanted to attend. She'd read somewhere that young elves looked like pixies and then they went through different forms before becoming adults. Or something.

After dinner Mirta climbed up to the roof. It was empty, all the other students were apparently in their rooms grappling with the challenges of the first day of school. They were missing a lovely warm summer evening.

Mirta stretched out her arms and summoned her power. Magic swirled around her, stripping away her school clothes and replacing them with the fairy outfit she'd discovered last year. Wings opened from her back, stiff from months of disuse. Mirta stretched her wings, bending over to work out all the kinks in her back. It had been way too long! She'd only transformed once over the summer—and then realized everyone on the entire block was watching her from behind their curtains. She hadn't done it again.

But here, nobody would care. Just another Alfea student.

Her wings were eager to fly but Mirta waited another minute. She summoned her gloomix and felt inside her head for the presence of her patron spirit. It was pleased. It didn't understand humans well, but it understood that because Mirta had talked at the meeting there would be no new pollution in the air. The spirit was satisfied Mirta was keeping her half of the bargain.

Time to have some fun.

Mirta fanned her wings and took off—straight up, as fast as she could fly. Up fifty feet, a hundred feet, her wings catching great scoops of air, pushing her higher. She sighted on the crescent moon and headed for it with all her might.

Of course she didn't reach the moon, didn't even get high enough for the air to thin before she ran out of strength. She leaned back in the air and floated, leaning on her wings, the magic making her weigh no more than a feather. Her hair, made lighter still, drifted around her head. Extra magic thrown off by her frantic dash trailed behind her in glittering clouds. Below, Alfea was tiny as a doll's house.

It was good to be back. From up here she could see past the homework, straight to the fall dance and all the interesting trips they'd be going on. It was going to be great.

It was dark by the time Mirta landed in the garden. The pixie critters were running around, leaving trails of sparkles behind them. The pixie frog bounced over Mirta's head when she landed. Mirta waved at them and went inside. She still had her wings out, and fluttered from tile to time down the hall, just because she could.

"You don't fool me."

Mirta looked up. A new student, someone she didn't recognize, was blocking the hall. And trying to look scary.

Mirta wasn't trying to fool anybody so she just said, "...what?"

"Bouncing around trying to be a fairy. Why don't you go back to Cloud Tower where you belong?"

It seemed unfair, this happening now when she'd been in such a good mood. Mirta sighed. "I'm not pretending to be a fairy, everybody in the whole school knows about me. We don't have any classes together so how about I'll stay away from you and you stay away from me, then you won't have to worry about it. Ok?"

The strange fairy looked like she was thinking about it. Then she lunged and grabbed one of Mirta's wings.

Mirta shrieked. It didn't just feel like someone pulling her hand, more like touch on skin that had just had a bandage removed. It was very rude to touch a fairy's wings, but Mirta hadn't known it felt this skin-crawlingly weird. She jerked away and had to spend a minute just going, "Ew, ew, ew!"

"Oh come on, you're just-"

"Bullying? Puh-lease, that went out with tie-dye!" said a green-faced monster at the end of the hall. The monster had long yellow hair and was holding a cucumber.

"She's a _witch_!" The fairy protested, "Witches try to destroy everything! They tried to destroy this school!"

"I..." Mirta began.

The slime monster talked right over her. "Sure, lots of witches do. But _this_ witch helped us beat those other ones, and she's got a scholarship here and you'd better believe Miss F knows who she's giving scholarships to! Actually she knows everything that goes on in this school, so we're getting out of here before someone comes to give us detention. Bye-e!"

Mirta succeeded in shifting back to her normal clothes and followed the monster. "Thanks, Stella."

"No problem. Who was that fashion-challenged fairy?"

Mirta hadn't even noticed the other fairy's clothes. "A new student I guess. She said I was a fake fairy and grabbed my wing."

Stella shuddered. "Ugh! Doesn't that totally feel like taking a bath in spiders?"

"Totally. Hang on, how do you know what taking a bath in spiders feels like? Were there that many in Shadowhaunt?"

Stella giggled. "Waaaay too many spiders in Shadowhaunt, but no actual spiderbath."

Mirta found herself walking with Stella without really thinking about it. Soon she was being invited into the Winx common room for a slice of pizza and 'first day of school facials- the stress is already causing wrinkles!' A few minutes later Hexen showed up to steal pepperonis.


	12. Chapter 12

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 12

School happened. Mirta spent her days building diplomatic relations with her classmates in Arts of Rulership, brewing potions, discussing classic hero traditions, and trying to shapeshift. She'd chosen a fox as her target creature because Professor Wizgiz advised them to start with an animal they had something in common with, like hair color. Lolina had picked a poodle. Alice had more ambition and was trying to change into a blue lightning-lizard. She could manage to shift her wings, but the sight of big leathery wings freaked her out so much she couldn't manage the rest.

"Yeah, your shapeshifting and my potion brewing." Selene said, "I can't get the anti-petrification serum to set! And I _need_ it, what if we meet a basilisk?"

"It's the roc eggshell, it isn't ground finely enough so it's hard to measure properly." was Kimmy's opinion.

"You think?"

This suddenly made sense. Mirta remembered, "Mom always grinds hers again after it arrives. Maybe that's the problem with my gem cleaning brew too, it keeps coming out lumpy."

The three girls arrived at their next class—'physical education' which covered fitness, flight, sports, and self defense. It was required for fairies who weren't taking a particular sport or combat class.

"Obstacle course! Great!" Selene bounced happily.

Mirta wasn't quite so enthusiastic. She wasn't the worst at obstacle courses, but she was never the best either. Katy was usually the fastest through. She was already there, lounging in a floating doughnut that they would shortly be flying through.

"Katy!" Mirta called and waved.

Katy hopped down, landing on her feet without using her wings. Amaryl and Kadija, who'd probably been waiting for the course, made faces at Katy's back. Katy swished her tail at them. "You guys ready to get totally left in my dust?"

"Always ready for that." Mirta replied. She and Kimmy had pretty much given up on being head of the pack. Selene, however, blazed through her transformation and zipped behind Katy. "Who's getting left in _whose_ dust?"

They bounced around each other exchanging taunts while Mirta and Kimmy transformed and watched Amaryl and Kadija go through the obstacle course. Kadija finished first by a few seconds, and to her surprise a prize appeared in front of her. Everyone leaned in to see what was in the little package. Chocolate!

Well, if there would be _chocolate_...

There was suddenly a lot more enthusiasm.

The course had a series of obstacles, all constructed of magic and floating in midair. Each was illuminated on one side and that was where you were supposed to fly—over this, under that, between those two pillars. It was going to be tough.

"And no magic." Kimmy said. She could have changed time to slow down her opponent. Mirta could have summoned wind to help her dodge the obstacles. But this was supposed to be _physical_ education.

Katy and Francis finished and waved that the course was clear. Mirta and Kimmy looked at each other. "Three, two, one—"

Mirta won. Barely, and after smooshing into the last obstacle. It felt like hitting a really big pillow. Kimmy had been off her game and hit two, which was the only reason she lost.

The victory chocolate poofed into being and Mirta grabbed it. She realized one of the teachers must be watching them and sending the prizes over. She waved at the school building before unwrapping her prize.

The chocolate was delicious. The wrapper had a picture of one of the statues out behind the school, and a note that said , "10:00 pm."

Katy peered over Mirta's shoulder. "Ooh, secret message."

Selene and Kimmy came over and Mirta passed the note around.

"Everybody who wants to go spy on it, raise your hand!" Katy said, hand raised. Selene grinned and raised hers.

There was something funny about the note. It was a very good drawing of the statue and... "This looks like teacher handwriting."

Kimmy leaned in for another look, "Oh, you're right."

"Maybe it's Professor Palladium and Miss DuFour having a romantic interlude!"

"Maybe it's Professor P and Professor Avalon..." Katy giggled.

Mirta rolled her eyes. "Come on, who cares about that. I wonder if they're setting us up to rescue someone."

Kimmy nodded. "It wouldn't be the first time. We should go."

"What about Priscilla and Loli and Alice?" Selene asked, clearly of two minds about it. Nobody wanted to leave their friends out of the fun, but... "four people are sneakier than seven."

"Only the four of us were here when I got the note so maybe it's our assignment."

At five minutes to ten the four girls were sitting in a tree above the meeting point. It was a pretty tall tree and Mirta, Kimmy and Selene had transformed and flown up. Katy had changed to her cat shape and climbed the trunk.

After a few minutes three whispering figures gathered by the statue. Three students. Drat. Mirta had held a faint hope that it would be kissing teachers.

Vecta was immediately recognizable by her mirrored silver hair. The other two were nobody Mirta knew—wait. The voice. It was that mean girl from the first day of school! Were they plotting against her or something?

Looked like... no.

One of the girls held up a thread that glowed orangey-gold in the moonlight. "...Princess Stella has an entire _dress_ made out of the stuff."

Vecta said, "It is attractive. However, there is a rule against going out at night. It is logical to assume the rule is there to protect us from danger."

"Well _I_ think it's logical to assume the teachers are just making things up to keep us in line. It's just a short flight!"

"I accessed a bestiary. Blackmud Swamp is inhabited by trolls, shadow imps, mound plants, giant insects, mundane crocodiles, flytraps, wyverns, vine snakes, will-o-whisps, tentacled-"

"Yes, in the _whole_ swamp, which is huge. None of them come near Alfea."

The third fairy spoke up, "I don't think you need to worry about those things Vecta. The school's spells keep them away."

The nasty fairy gave a big gusty sigh. "It's perfectly safe, we grab some cocoons and fly back. We can fly! Remember that little fact about us being fairies! And fairies are not supposed to be cowards and want to have adventures only in the daylight!" She transformed quick as a blink and flew out over Alfea's wall. The other two rushed after her.

"We can't let them go alone!" Selene cried and launched herself from the tree. Everyone took off and there was a mad dash to keep up with Selene.

"What are they looking for?" Mirta asked, swinging close to Kimmy in the air.

"Honeymoon silk. The moths spin cocoons for their eggs out of that glowing thread."

"Which should be gathered by professionals!" Selene grumbled.

Mirta pumped her wings for height. The first-years should have been right here, but they were a surprising distance away. "They must be using a speed charm! I don't think we can catch them!"

"Just don't let them out of sight!"

Kimmy was lagging behind. She conjured a voice bubble and sent a quick message back to Alfea. The teachers would know where they were going, in case they needed rescue.

At first it was just a lot of tiring flying. Mirta drew on her gloomix to summon a helpful breeze, but still, after a few miles their wings ached. Then the first-years realized something the older fairies had already known: Blackmud Swamp was a swamp with _trees_. Most of the time you couldn't see what was under the trees unless you went down there.

They started dipping out of sight looking for the cocoons, only visible by the glow from their wings when they came up from the trees.

Mirta glanced back at her own wings. She didn't glow. Her friends did, Selene especially. The blue-haired fairy was throwing off sparks. She always got mad when people put themselves in danger.

The first-years disappeared into the trees. They didn't come up this time. The canopy shook.

Uh-oh.

Katy dived down and disappeared in the dark branches. It was a long minute before the other three reached the spot. They hesitated, and Katy popped back up with leaves in her hair.

"Something grabbed them. Big. I found a track, if we're careful maybe we can follow it."

Selene and Kimmy nodded. The swamp had gone quiet around them; the frogs and insects were chirping from a distinct distance away. Nobody was screaming, which was good. Mirta nodded too, and picked her way down through the branches. She hovered over the mud and rotting logs on the ground and looked around. The first-years had picked a good spot; a few glowing threads hung from the branches. Credit to them, they'd found some cocoons. Whatever had found them left huge footprints and a clear gap in the foliage where it had departed.

"Troll?" she whispered.

"Gotta be." Selene answered.

Kimmy summoned her charmix.

Mirta had seen trolls on television, and there was one in the Coventry zoo. Those were the only places Mirta ever wanted to see a troll. Certainly not in the middle of a swamp in the middle of the night and this quiet and thick smell of rotting plants. She summoned her gloomix and drifted down the path the troll had taken.

Selene fluttered into the lead, looking at the ground for tracks. Katy sniffed the air. Her cat-ears were lying flat to the top of her head and her tail lashed silently.

Kimmy whispered, "What are we going to do when we catch up?"

"Fight it and rescue those kids, I guess." Mirta whispered back. It seemed the only possible plan, and also a very bad plan. Trolls, according to Professor Palladium's magicobiology class, could be up to twelve feet tall with the males growing larger than the females. They were active at night, could regenerate injuries, and would eat almost anything.

It couldn't possibly be as bad as fighting a living weapon that was controlling your best friend... right?

Mirta was at the back of the group now, thinking about trolls and making sure nothing snuck up behind them, when she saw movement.

Not big, stomping troll movement. It looked like a person. Walking, not flying. Dark coat, pale blur of a face—there were two, no, three of them.

"Guys!" Mirta hissed. Her friends turned, Selene summoning magic to attack.

The faint hiss of whispers indicated the strangers had seen them too. A shadowy figure held out its arms and said softly, "Hey, peace, we're not monsters. Are you guys fairies?"

"Yeah, what are you?"

The shadowy people came forward and became boys wearing long black coats. "We're from Balthazar's. You fairies ought to get out of here, it's dangerous."

"We know. Something grabbed some firsties from our school."

"And we're looking for a pumpkin-head troll. We spotted it last week but nobody'll believe us without pictures. I'm Sterling, that's Keith and Jess."

"Selene. Kimmy, Katy, Mirta. It's this way."

The boys walked on the muddy water, using a spell that let them, skate over the surface of the muck. Keith and Jess looked curiously at the flying fairies. Mirta smiled hello, since they were trying to be quiet. Katy whispered, "Come here often?" and Jesse grinned, teeth flashing in the moonlight.

Then Selene, in the lead, reached a hedge of big-leafed plants. She pushed through, then backwinged hurriedly, waving for silence. Mirta and the fairies flew up to look over the barrier.

They'd found the troll.

Vecta and the other two were tied up with vines, wrapped like mummies with only their muddy, terrified faces visible. The troll must have been smarted than average, because it was building a fire. It dragged a long branch over, broke it in half, and fed both ends into the growing blaze. The huge hulk, even crouching, was as tall as a fairy. Its face did look like an evil pumpkin lantern.

The rescuers backed off far enough to have a whispered conference.

The boys were suddenly holding staffs, and their black coats had changed into robes glittering with magical symbols. Cool.

"Can you guys zap with those?" Selene asked.

"Ready to zap." Jess said.

"I can slow it down for a few minutes, if someone can untie the girls _really fast_..."

"I'll do that!" Katy offered.

Mirta said, "I might be able to lure it away, with an illusion. But it might not work."

Selene tugged her hair for a moment, thinking. "Ok. Mirta, you try to get the troll away. We'll go around the other side and try to get the girls away. If the troll sees through the illusion, Kimmy can grab it. If it gets over here and attacks us we'll hit it until it stops getting up."

Sterling opened his mouth then shut it. He tried again, "That's as good as anything I could think of." The other two guys were wearing little grins.

Suddenly the dark-haired boy said, "I'll stay with these two." This was the first time he's spoken, and his voice was surprisingly deep.

"Thanks." Kimmy said.

Selene nodded, and the group split, half vanishing into the bushes.

The boy—Keith, Mirta remembered—pointed his staff at a high branch. He walked up the air to stand on it, and Mirta and Kimmy fluttered up. The tree was ancient and massive, and the branch they crouched on was a good three feet wide. They had a good view from up here. The troll was still poking the fire, intent on roast fairy for dinner. The wood was wet and producing huge clouds of smoke and hardly any flame. The troll snarled with rage and Kimmy shivered.

The occasional rustle or glitter of wing showed where the others were. Mirta wanted to give them another minute to get into position. She started working on her illusion in her head, pulling power into the image she wanted. It would have sound too, if she could remember the sounds at the right time. She wished she could do smell too.

"Did you fairies tell your teachers where you are?" Keith murmured, his voice hardly carrying in the heavy air,

"I sent a message." Kimmy looked back in the direction of Alfea. Obviously no rescue was in sight.

"So did we. Someone might show up before we get completely flattened."

Kimmy made a face.

There was no more movement on the other side of the clearing. The others must be ready. Mirta took a deep breath. "Ready? Ok, here goes!"

The bushed below the tree rustled. A second troll slunk into the clearing. It snuffled and snorted and stood up to its full eight-foot height. Then it winked and blew a kiss.

Keith snorted a laugh.

Mirta noticed, but all her attention was on holding the illusion. Her troll warbled the sound of a lady troll looking for love. The real troll snorted and stood up. It hooted hello. Mirta made her troll hoot back. The real troll moved towards the illusion, just a few steps but now the fire was between it and its captives.

"Come on..." Mirta hissed between her teeth and stepped her illusion back another few paces. It could go wrong any second. Trolls smelled, and as soon as the troll realized his new ladyfriend didn't smell he'd know something was wrong. And he'd get mad and start ripping things up and they'd all be in trouble.

Mirta realized she was in trouble right now. The branch they were on was slimy and her boots were starting to slip. She wasn't sure she could hold the illusion and grab for a better grip. She managed a little noise of distress, and Keith looped an arm around her waist and pulled her to safety.

The troll took another step, and then another—and then the wind changed.

The troll sniffed, and realized he'd been fooled. He leaped and slashed his claws through the image, and let out a howl that shook leaves from the trees.

Someone screamed.

Kimmy took over, throwing one of her time-distortion spheres. The troll was suddenly in slow motion as it turned back towards its dinner.

Katy yelled, "Help!"

The clearing was in chaos. One of the girls was untied, but clinging to Sterling, too scared to do anything. Vecta seemed to be injured—it must've slowed Katy down because the third girl was still tied up. Katy, tail stiff with fear, was trying to get the girl free and Selene had put herself protectively between them and the troll.

Mirta blasted the troll. From next to her Keith shot blue lightning from his staff. Then he sensibly shifted to making sure Kimmy didn't fall.

Mirta dived and landed next to Vecta. "Can you fly? No? Ok, hang on to me." Vecta wrapped her arms around Mirta's shoulders and Mirta lifted her up.

"Oleana is still in danger."

Mirta didn't have enough breath to answer. She found a suitable set of branches and Vecta grabbed on. "Secure." She said.

Mirta turned back. Maybe she and Katy could—

Too late.

The troll snapped into motion. Ignoring the magic bolts hitting it, it lunged. Selene dived in front of it and summoned a shield. A giant claw raked down, the shield shattered—

And the clearing exploded into light.

For a second, as she shielded her eyes, Mirta thought it was the teachers coming to rescue them. Just in time, if Selene had been hit she was probably...

Mirta risked a look. It was Selene, still huddled like she was expecting to be hit, the light blazing from her wings. Her wings billowed like clouds and her clothes blurred and changed. Selene gasped and looked down at herself.

Katy whooped. "Yahoo! You did it!"

"...is everybody all right?" Selene asked.

There was a general mutter that nobody was badly hurt. The troll was facedown in the mud, snoring.

"I guess the teachers will believe there's a bull troll in the swamp _now_." Jess said cheerfully. "Hey fairies, can any of you summon some rope?"

Selene waved her hand absently and a coil of rope fell to the ground. The boys took the job of tying up the troll, and Mirta was happy to leave that job to them! She looked around for her friends. Kimmy looked tired, but at least she hadn't overstretched her power and fainted. Katy's ears were flat and she was growling at the first-years, apparently delivering the "it's dangerous out here you idiots" lecture. Mirta would've waited at least until they all got out of the mud.

Selene had dimmed her light but was still glowing like five moons. Her hair was about a foot longer, Mirta wondered if she'd noticed. Selene had always been a strong person but now it was like her confidence had turned into a visible power. Like she was more herself than before, and anyone could see that her _self_ was someone amazing. Even though she was standing in the mud, turning to look at her new clothes from every angle.

Mirta, whose wings didn't even glow, felt a spike of jealousy. She mentally stomped on it.

Vecta fluttered down, clumsy on her bruised wing. "We were given incorrect data concerning the prevalence of dangerous creatures in this area. Next time I will fact-check further before acting."

"Fact-check with the teachers." Mirta suggested. "Are you going to be able to fly home?"

"I will require assistance."

Mirta sighed inwardly. Fairies were magically light, but they weren't weightless, and it was a long way back.

Selene had heard them. "I think I can transport us back. Hey guys, where do you want to go? I'll send the troll to the zoo, but I haven't been to your school so I can't send you there."

"Drop us at the zoo with the troll." Sterling said. "We'll help get him settled."

"That works. Gather around the troll."

They did. Jess gave a parting, "Nice to meet you guys, let's do this again sometime!" Keith smiled at Mirta.

Selene fluttered her new wings, and the clearing filled with glittering snow. From out of it Sterling called, "Hey, call me!"

They vanished. Selene said, "Ok, everybody get over here!"

"Your enchantix is going to be really useful." Katy said.

It was well after midnight and the cafeteria was deserted. Selene reluctantly shifted back to her regular clothes and said, "You guys know you're getting in trouble tomorrow, right? Probably us too."

"Hey, we rescued them!" Katy yelped.

"You're going to _tattle_?" That was the fairy who'd tried bullying Mirta. Oleana, Vecta had said her name was.

Kimmy answered, "We won't have to. Miss Faragonda already knows."

The other third-years nodded soberly, in unison. Mirta grinned. At Cloud Tower they'd tease the new kids with crazy stories; at Alfea you teased the new kids with the truth.

The younger fairies fled to their rooms. Mirta and a yawning Katy wandered towards theirs. "Ya think the teachers know what we've been up to?"

"Probably." Mirta replied around a yawn of her own.

"Ya think they'd let us off first period tomorrow?"

"Probably not." Mirta was just glad she'd finished her homework. She thought she could stay awake long enough to wash the swamp mud off her hands, and legs and pretty much everywhere, then get some sleep before class. But all in all... "Selene got her enchantix. Nobody got eaten."

"We met boys!" Katy broke in. "Do you think they'll want to hang out again?"

Mirta giggled at her friend's sudden enthusiasm. "It's not like we actually met them really, we were too busy fighting to get to know each other."

"I think that Sterling guy liked Selene. He was staring."

Staring would be a natural response to seeing a glittery enchantix fairy, not necessarily the symptom of a crush, Mirta thought. "We can investigate tomorrow. Good night Katy."

"'Night Mirta." Katy said and went on to her own room.

Mirta took a two minute shower, got into her pajamas, and moved the sleeping cat off her pillow. "All in all it wasn't a bad night, Hex."


	13. Chapter 13

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 13

By breakfast, the story had gotten out. And, unbelievably, Ortensia had the dirt on the boys. She caught up with them in the line for breakfast. "Ok, gather 'round." The pink-clad fairy said, adjusting her hat. "I looked up the Balthazar Academy website this morning and your friend Keith is a bit of a mystery. He turned up outside the school last year and set off fireworks until the headmaster agreed to enroll him."

Mirta had been distracted wondering how Ortensia had known the names- had Selene texted her in the middle of he night? Then she switched to being distracted thinking about Keith. She'd heard stories of people who got into magic school that way instead of my signing up normally, but never met anyone who'd done it.

"He was nice." Kimmy said. "At least, he made sure Mirta and I didn't get hurt."

He had been nice. And he'd had a lovely voice, and Mirta wondered why she had noticed that. It wasn't like she usually noticed people's voices.

"And Sterling is the reason Selene got her enchantix! He's from Arcadia city, his father's the duke of the tenth ward. Not quite royalty, but almost!"

This should have been good news, but Selene looked like she'd just seen a ghost. Her face went milk white.

Kimmy nudged her, "You all right?"

But Selene just shook her head, hard, her pigtails flying, and turned and left.

Mirta and the others exchanged confused looks. Kimmy opened her mouth, glanced at Ortensia, and shut it again. "Sorry, it's Selene's business so she should tell you."

Ortensia looked hurt but nodded. "I only share public secrets... but when it turns into a public secret, I want to know ok!"

"Well then how about the public secret of who we rescued last night? I don't even know one of their names." Mirta asked, to change the subject.

"That I can help you with! Weird metal girl you've met. 'Duchess' Oleana is actually from Arcadia too, her father's the duke of the second ward where all the spas and vacation hotels are. She seems a bit snobby but it'd be worth making friends if she'd invite me over!

"The little one is named Comfrey. She's from Linphea so she's got some kind of plant magic and I don't think she's said two words to anyone who isn't a teacher the whole time she's been here. That's more shy than Mirta when she first came!"

Mirta rolled her eyes. But Ortensia wasn't being mean, she was never mean.

"Did they get in trouble?"

"Not that I've heard. Sounds like they got a pretty good scare, I bet the teachers won't bother them."

That would be good. They reached the front of the line and loaded up with breakfast. There was bacon left and Mirta took an extra piece for her cat, who was... under the table, stalking Alice's pixie. "Hexen, she'll magic your tail into a bunny tail again and you'll be sad."

Hexen and Zendy looked up, then glared at each other.

Mirta's phone chimed and she set her tray down to open it. "Hey guys, Lucy says there's a showing of the Nancy Brew movie at seven—open invitation, anybody want to come with us?"

"Oh man, I can't—we've got that test tomorrow!"

"I'll come. I'll call Jared, maybe he can come too." Alice said.

"Count me in, I love Nancy Brew! 'With divination and deduction, we'll solve the case!" Priscilla and Alice chorused. Mirta laughed. She hadn't expected fairies to read books about a witch detective. She sent Lucy a message and the arranged to meet at the theater.

Witches' New Year was coming up too, maybe they could go pumpkin shopping together...

The bell rang and the girls wandered towards their first classes, most still munching on bagels or muffins. The cooks made lots of portable food that could be carried to class. Mirta, with cat in tow, headed for Transformation class.

Professor Wizgiz's lecture was about practical applications of shapeshifting. "The Solarian Dodobird was facing extinction after its feathers became popular as hat decorations. Advanced sorcerers hit on the idea of permanently changing members of similar species." He whipped up some images, and Mirta was startled to see sorcerers wearing the same black robes as the boys they'd met last night.

Siliciya raised her hand, "Did the new dodobirds know they changed? Wouldn't they still try to fly and stuff?"

"Yes they would! The sorcerers experimented with knowledge spells, but those don't work well on animals. In the end their solution was to use birds with similar behaviors imported from another realm."

Mirta scribbled down notes. Hexen had jumped into her lap and settled down for a nap.

"Hang on, so even if I get changed into a squirrel I still won't know how to climb trees?" Lolina asked.

The teacher answered, "But on the upside, those of you turning into carnivores won't feel driven to eat your friends!"

"Or _bugs_!" Kylie shrieked. "If you got turned into a toad, toads eat _bugs_!"

There was a general, "Eeeeew!" from the class.

"What if you turned an animal into a human?"

"Then you get a human that acts like an animal." Professor Wizgiz answered cheerfully. "It's best to leave creatures in their natural form longterm."

Hexen yawned and stretched, tumbling himself off Mirta's lap. He trotted to the front of the room, sat down in front of the teacher, and meowed.

"It seems we have a volunteer."

Hexen meowed agreement.

"Would anyone like to change this noble feline into a canine, perhaps?"

Mirta wasn't about to try. She could barely manage to change bits of herself. Alice raised her hand, but looked at Mirta for permission.

"Sure, just turn him back later. I have permission to keep a cat, not a dog."

Alice promised, then sat still for a few minutes building up her spell. Hexen started to sparkle, his outline shifted, and then there was a small six-legged dog sitting on the floor. Hexen shook himself, wiggled his ears and wagged his tail wildly. "Rarf!"

"Hi buddy."

"Arf! Arfarfarf!"

"I think he likes barking better than meowing."

Hexen ran around the room, sniffing everyone and enjoying the occasional bark. He seemed to be having a great time. After saying hello to the rest of the class he jumped up on Mirta's lap.

"Wow, you even smell like a dog. Amazing, Alice."

"Arf."

"I tried to make him a normal dog, with four feet, but the magic wouldn't let me change his extra legs. Why is that?"

Professor Wizgiz shook his head and shrugged.

"Anyway, I can turn him back whenever."

Hexen had realized that his new shape was not as good for lap sitting as his original form. He tumbled down, claws clattering, made another circuit of the room and sat down in front of Alice. "Arf!"

"Ok ok, sit still and I'll make you a cat again." Alice released the spell and Hexen was soon back in his real shape, giving his fur a furious licking.

"Can you make him human?" Lolina asked.

"Not today, maybe some other time."

Hexen seemed to sense that the fun was over and, bath finished, headed out the door to do whatever he did when Mirta wasn't around.

Kylie asked why people didn't just shapeshift all aggressive creatures into fluffy harmless forms, and Vecta pointed out that that would damage the food chain, and the debate was on. Professor Wizgiz seemed happy to let the class debate biology; the students not interested in the debate were practicing, shifting parts of their bodies back and forth.

Mirta probably should have done that too, but she was tired and the teacher couldn't see her in the back of the class so she started a letter to Orion.

_There is a fairy here who thinks I'm out to destroy the school and probably all of Magix. She still thinks that even after Stella laughed at her, and that usually convinces people to change their minds 'cause they're being dumb. I know she's just acting this way because she's scared, but that's what's weirding me out. Me? Scary?!_

_ In other news, we had an adventure last night..._

Dinner was rushed, so they'd be in time for the movie. Priscilla and Alice were coming, and Selene had reappeared and wanted to come too. The others begged off to study.

"Your essay about the founding of your realm? That's not due for ages." Mirta said.

Kimmy pushed her book over. The picture was a cityscape of bright, spiky buildings. "It still looks like that today. And there's the first king and queen and their daughter, the first fairy in the realm."

"They look nice. He's cute." Mirta said. The king was cute, and was grinning a very nonroyal grin as he stood with his arms around his wife and child. The queen and princess were both blonde, and actually looked a lot like Kimmy.

"Your relatives?" Priscilla asked from across the table.

Kimmy shrugged and blushed. "Distantly. The royal line's down a different branch of the family tree though."

"That's ok, we're all commoners here." Lolina said cheerfully. Alice, whose family was pretty high class, cocked an eyebrow.

"How's your essay coming?" Kimmy asked.

"It's a good thing we have months to work on it because mine's going slower than snails."

"Mine too. Poor teacher, I bet she gets a million papers about Linphea and they all say the same thing."

"Linphea, Solaria, Arcadia—Domino, back when. Those realms just turn out fairies." Kimmy put in.

"Everybody going on the field trip to the Thieves' Guild? I liked the permission slip—it said not to bring anything you don't want stolen!" Priscilla laughed.

Alice checked her watch, "Speaking of purses, if you're bringing yours to the movie you'd better get it. Ten minutes to the bus. Where's Selene?"

"She knows when we're leaving."

Mirta and Priscilla ran for their room to grab purses and jackets. Mirta noticed a letter from her parents had arrived, and one from Orion. He had warned her there wasn't much to do in the ocean realm but swim and write. There wasn't time to read the mail now, but it would be something extra to look forward to.

The four of them got off the bus in front of the theater. Lucy was waiting, wearing a stylish sequined purple jacket with her hair in two braids.

"What do you think?" She asked, waving a braid, "Does it say 'cute' or 'twelve years old?''

"Definitely cute." Alice said.

"Cute." Mirta said.

Selene said, "I like it. Your coat too. So what's with this movie? Do you know if it's supposed to follow one of the books or what?"

Mirta smiled. Lucy did look good, the hairstyle softened the shape of her face. Lucy wasn't ugly, she was just... sharp. Every bit of her from anklebones to cheekbones was either sharp points or flat lines with no soft curves at all. She had a long, bony face and with lank hair falling in her eyes she looked messy and unattractive. But over the summer Lucy had started to change. First it was five kinds of shampoo, until she found one that gave her hair some shine, then actual hairstyles, and now clothes that fit well.

And talking to fairies, which Lucy would never have done if Mirta hadn't gotten everyone together in a chatroom over the summer.

"I read a review this morning, I think the movie is of the first book." Lucy offered.

"It's been so long since I read them..." Alice said.

"Fairies read Nancy Brew? Ok, the fairies at our school did, but we live in a witch realm!"

Mirta nodded. Back in elementary school she and Lucy had even loaned the books back and forth with the fairy students, before they all grew up and realized fairies and witches weren't supposed to hang out, even if they were only twelve years old.

And now six years later witches and fairies were hanging out again—five of them anyway.

Jared arrived and he and Alice vanished briefly into their own little bubble of hand-holding and meaningful looks. Mirta hadn't met Jared before, he and Alice had met at the end-of-year dance last year and apparently making kissy faces at each other ever since. They were pretty cute.

Priscilla whispered, "But they don't have epic smooching in the garden like Stella and Brandon."

Lucy giggled. "At your school..."

"Oh yeah. Guys visit. They're not allowed in your _room_ of course, so you have to find somewhere outside that nobody can see you if you want to kiss for hours."

"Boys don't visit Cloud Tower unless they have to be there. Miss Griffin invited the class from Professor Balthazar's to our dance but I don't think they had much fun. Everyone was trying to put love spells on them. I stayed in my room that night."

Selene gave an apologetic shrug, "I know you guys aren't like that, but witches have a pretty scary reputation for chasing boys."

Mirta and Lucy sighed in unison.

Alice came back, arm in arm with Jared, and they all bought their tickets and headed towards the theater. It was quite crowded; some big action movie was also opening tonight and half of Red Fountain seemed to be here too. Suddenly Selene jumped and made a little surprised noise, "It's them!"

"Them who?" Mirta was shorter and couldn't see.

"The guys we met last night." Selene looked like she wasn't sure whether to duck or what. But they'd been seen and the guys came over.

"Hi." Keith said, smiling, and Mirta had a sudden and unexpected attack of melty knees. She hadn't gotten a good look at him last night, and in the light his dark hair turned out to be mahogany brown and his face was lean and handsome.

Sterling was saying hello to Selene, who was still not looking sure of anything but was sort of leaning towards him. Jess hung back, looking friendly but clearly more interested in hanging out with the guy in a Red Fountain uniform standing next to him. Or, ducking behind him.

"Mirta, right?" Keith asked, and Mirta nodded and smiled back.

"Hang on, the movie's about to start." Alice said. "You guys want to join us?"

Sterling inched in Selene's direction. Keith inched in Mirta's direction, to her delight.

Jess rolled his eyes. "Ok, girls are great and all, but we're going to watch the guy movie." He looked amused, not angry. And he and his friend were giving each other little smiles.

Mirta had a sudden realization. "Oh, Katy's going to be disappointed. She liked you I think."

"The girl with the ears? Tell her I'd still like to be friends... but not enough to watch a girly movie. Have fun all!" Jess and his boyfriend waved and went off to their movie, but not before Jared made a quick "my lips are sealed" gesture at his classmate.

"Well, we'd better go get seats."

They did, the expanded group of eight taking up half a row. Keith sat between Mirta and Lucy and whispered comments to both of them as the great witch detective looked for clues, questioned her suspects and—of course—went into the creepy dark house _all by herself._

Mirta hardly noticed the movie, consumed by a mystery far more compelling than the one on the screen: Did this mean Keith maybe _liked_ her? After meeting only once? Ok, she had a crush on him, just now suddenly, but she had no idea what to do about it since previous crushes had always been about guys on TV. And if he did like her, did he know she was a witch? Would he still be interested if he knew?

Given a choice, most guys wanted to date fairies. There were plenty of witches who'd use a barely-legal love spell to get a guy to take them to dinner and buy them expensive presents, and then dump the poor guy when he ran out of money. Electra did that with three guys at once, according to Cloud Tower gossip.

Of course not all witches were like that, and some who were would quit and settle down when they met the right guy, but the stereotype was hard to break.

Really, there was no way... ok, Orion. But he lived in the middle of nowhere and never saw other girls and besides he was just a friend.

Mirta managed to catch up with the end of the movie, enough to realize they'd changed the ending from the book, making a different person the thief!

"So you wouldn't ruin the surprise." Selene said as the lights came up.

"Hmmf!" Was Lucy's opinion.

"Don't mess with the classics! But it was a pretty good movie otherwise."

Unexpectedly Keith said, "My sisters would've liked it..."

"Hang on, you've got sisters?" Sterling leaned around Selene to stare at his friend in comic surprise. "Guy has a family, who knew?"

Keith shrugged. "Of course I have a family, I didn't just appear."

"Ladies, you don't know but this guy is very mysterious. Where he came from, what his folks do, why he wants to study sorcery—nobody knows. Even the teachers."

Keith grinned. "Ok, I am mysterious. But since I slipped up I have to confess to the existence of several older sisters." He stopped, apparently finished.

"Someday we'll find out." Sterling threatened.

"Someday you will. Now, anybody want to get dessert or do you have to catch a bus?"

They did need to catch a bus, and Lucy needed to catch a different bus, but nobody really wanted to leave so the whole group ended up in a little cafe down the street from the theater eating random baked goods and talking. Topics included movies, homework, levibike racing, Witches' New Year, dance, and the monsters in Blackmud Swamp.

"I saw it on the news, the zookeepers found the troll tied up right outside the front gate..." Priscilla broke down in giggles. "Next time you guys get a mysterious invitation, I'm coming too ok?"

"You can go instead of me." Mirta replied.

Jared asked, "What's the zoo going to do with the troll?"

"Oh, they're thrilled. It turns out there's a sanctuary somewhere that needed a bull troll."

"They are high level predators. An important part of the food chain."

"As long as it's a food chain someplace else, that's all right."

It was close to curfew when they all headed home. Alice and Jared parted with more kissing. Sterling promised Selene he'd call. Mirta and Keith exchanged phone numbers but Mirta was too shy to set anything up so the only plan she made was to go pumpkin shopping with Lucy next week before Lucy ran to catch the bus for Cloud tower.

The Alfea girls had missed their local bus, but the station was only a few streets away and they'd get home before curfew. But it was late enough that the streets were empty, and slightly creepy with long dark stretches between the streetlights.

"So why do you need to buy pumpkins?" Alice asked.

"Witches' New Year. It's the night when all the witches of the past come back to the land of the living. You carve scary faces in three pumpkins to scare away evil ghosts and a friendly face in one to invite your ancestors to visit you."

"Whoa... I don't know if that's creepy or cool." Priscilla said.

"You really see ghosts?"

"Sure, every year. They don't talk much, they just turn up to see us."

"And I thought witches were nothing but nastiness."

"Only mostly." Mirta admitted. "Witches... it's all about being more cool than everybody else."

"Sounds like just the same as everybody." Selene commented.

Mirta stopped suddenly, remembering, "Hey—what's going on with you and Sterling? This morning you looked upset but just now we all hung out. Are you all right? Is there something..?"

"That's..." Selene stopped and sighed. She stepped back to lean against a building, hanging her head so her hair shadowed her face. "I like him. I liked him. But you know where I come from? My family lives in the worst ward in the city, there's no good hospital and the police hardly get paid so they won't come to the bottom of the city where we have to deal with the gangs taking things from our store without paying and it's _his father_ who should be helping us but just builds luxury spas to get more tourists to the top of the city."

"He might not know." Alice offered. "My father employs a lot of workers, if he were treating them badly I wouldn't know because I'm here at school."

"Maybe." Selene didn't sound convinced.

"Just ask him about it."

"Maybe I will, next time. I'm being stupid, hoping Sterling's a good guy. He's probably just a spoiled brat when you get to know him, but I can't believe... aarg, I'd rather fight a troll, at least I know what to do with a troll!" She tugged her pigtails in anger.

"Well if you want to yell a lot, or need help scaring him into better politics, you know where to find us!" Priscilla offered cheerfully. Mirta and Alice nodded.

"Thanks guys." Selene pushed herself away from the wall and smiled. "I'll yell some more later, we'd better get going now. If we miss the bus and have to fly home we'd really get-"

She stopped. A high whining noise echoed around the street.

Mirta jumped as he patron spirit dropped information into her head. "Guys, there's something bad up there. Wings—a bug? Really big bug?"

It buzzed into view, briefly, as everybody ducked. It was as big as their heads.

"What is that?" Alice yelled.

Just then someone came rushing around the corner and careened into them. "Help! Make a shield! Please!"

Selene threw one over them. The bug slammed into it from above.

Mirta found herself crouching, her arms protecting her head. She convinced her body to stand up straight. "What is that?"

The person who'd run into them was bent over, hands on knees, getting his breath. Ever polite, Alice asked, "Sir, are you all right?"

"At the moment. Could I trouble one of you to send for the police?"

"Not through a shield. Selene, how long can you keep it up?"

"Not long, ten minutes maybe. And I won't be much help afterward. Anybody know what that thing is?"

It was buzzing around the shield, big and black with a long stinger. Priscilla watched it, and changed into her fairy form. "It's an assassin bug, they're from Linphea. Once it's set on a target it'll chase until it stings someone. But why is it chasing _you_?"

"I'm afraid it was set on me by an angry patient—pardon, my name is Martin, I'm a doctor at Magix General. Specialist in nonmagical medicine. Most conditions that don't respond to magic are very serious and there are some that simply can't be helped. There was a fairy from Linphea, her husband... there was nothing anybody could have done but I was the one who had to tell her."

Alice shuddered and shook her head. "But we need to get rid of that thing."

Mirta made an illusion of a person outside and shaped it to look like the doctor. The bug didn't notice. "It doesn't hunt by sight does it?"

"Magical signature. Sorry." Priscilla said.

"Are we going to be able to get out?" Mirta asked. She and Alice were watching the assassin bug circle them. Selene wasn't talking, busy holding up the shield around them.

Doctor Martin said, "You can get out. The assassin bug is only interested in its intended target. I would have to go back to, well, running for my life." He looked a bit green. Mirta didn't blame him.

"I can blow it away." She offered, summoning her gloomix.

"Not for long, they're fast." Priscilla said.

"Whatever we're doing, figure it out fast! Enchantix or not, I can't hold a shield forever!"

Alice grabbed Mirta, "We're good for offense! We can hold it off long enough for the police to get here."

"Guys—I can let it sting me. Then it would stop for a while." Priscilla said. When everyone looked at her in horror she continued, "I've been stung before, back home, and I'm partly immune. So I'd probably scream a lot and have to go to the hospital but I'd be fine. You guys would not be fine. So if we can't beat it up I'll just grab the thing."

The doctor sputtered a protest.

Mirta was having trouble keeping up. She'd never seen an assassin bug before, there weren't any in her realm. Would Priscilla really be fine?

Alice said, "All right, but we'll try to fight it off first. Get ready to call for help, then you can drop the shield." Everyone nodded. The doctor got his phone out and dialed.

"Ready?" Selene asked. "Ok. Five, four, three, two..." Selene vanished the shield and staggered back, fumbling for her phone.

Mirta drew on her gloomix and threw a gale-force wind at the bug. It vanished over the rooftops, but the buzzing sound looped back towards them. This time Alice was ready with a spray of violet light and a rain of feathers thrown like darts. They pinged off the bug's hard shell, but drove it away again.

Behind them Priscilla was growing a barrier of vines and Selene was saying something about fairy dust.

The bug came around again and Mirta tried to catch it in a magic bubble, but her spell couldn't get a grip. The bug dived at Alice and grabbed her arm. She screamed. Mirta fumbled for a spell and felt Selene doing the same.

Priscilla cast something and grabbed for the bug. It turned and drove its stinger into her arm.

Mirta expected magic, she was sure the doctor would turn out to be from Linphea too and this would be Priscilla's enchantix.

It didn't happen. Priscilla yelled in pain and dropped to her knees.

The bug landed on the pavement, still buzzing. Alice cast a bubble around it. "Selene, a little fairy dust?"

Selene held out her hands and poured out what looked like a flurry of sparkling snow.

Mirta heard sirens. She sent up an alarm light and in a minute they were surrounded by official, grownup help. Doctor Martin took charge of the ambulance personnel and they whisked Priscilla into the back of one.

"Will she be all right?" Mirta asked .

"Yes, I think so. She's only having a mild reaction to the poison."

Priscilla was healthy enough to yell, "Mild is _not_ the word I'd use!"

Mirta was the only girl still on her feet. Selene was sitting slumped against the nearest wall. Alice was holding the assassin bug in her bubble waiting for the police to come get it. She took a few steps back and sat down next to Selene. "This is what it's going to be like until we all get our enchantix, isn't it? We won't even be able to go to a movie without the universe dropping some kind of surprise on us."

"Probably. Maybe I'll quit hanging around you guys until graduation." Mirta said and joined them. Sitting felt good and her heart rate was going back to normal.

"That'd be so dull. Besides—next time we might get to rescue some cute Red Fountain students." Alice said with a little grin.

But Mirta's brain immediately presented an image of Keith rescuing _her_. And an image of the two of them walking happily together while the entire Cloud Tower student body perished from jealousy. Followed by a kissing scene—Mirta shook her head and returned to reality, where the police had arrived. The captured assassin bug was handed over so the forensic sorcerers could find out who'd sent it. Whoever it was would get arrested for endangering one adult and four students, and would have to pay Priscilla's medical bill.

Next the ship from Alfea arrived, with Professor Palladium piloting and Nurse Ofelia ready to make sure Priscilla had a comfortable flight back. The red-haired fairy was feeling better by then, up and walking though the ambulance people had put a big bandage over the wound on her arm. She was cleared to sleep at home but had to get checked out at the hospital in the morning.

Of course Nurse Ofelia had to confirm for herself that Priscilla was all right, then check everybody else for injuries—none, but Selene was overtired from too much magic use. Then they could finally strap in and head for home.

The next day they all went to the hospital with Priscilla. She was fine, just as she'd said, antitoxin and a few good healing spells had gotten her back to normal overnight.

Mirta had never been to the big city hospital before, and looked around with interest. It was all very modern, with big windows and white walls, doctors and nurses in white uniforms and a lot of machines with blinking lights and crystal screens. A lot of the building seemed to be dedicated to research rather than patients, and Doctor Martin seemed to be in charge of a lot of that. They'd rescued someone famous—well, famous compared to doctors, not compared to movie stars, but still.

He was also very enthusiastic, and gave them a long explanation of what he did. "...and the willow tree produces a compound that relieves pain that's been known for years on nonmagical world's like Princess Bloom's Earth but only just discovered here because _we_ just use a headache spell! There could be thousands more natural medicines waiting to be discovered!"

"That's impressive." Piscilla said.

"Like a potion without any magic?" Alice asked, sounding totally flumoxed. Well, it was a very weird idea.

"Exactly. Another option, especially for diseases that don't respond to healing magic. There are conditions that don't, you know, mostly inherited conditions but a few infectious agents."

They got the full tour. It was interesting, which was good since they were getting it whether they wanted it or not.

"Is there anything you need some fairy dust for?" Selene offered after a while. "I'm still tired from last night but I could manage one dose, I think."

"Actually, we are between staff fairies and there is something... a witch, tried to make a deal with a spirit of disease and..." He opened a door. The stink that rolled out was unbelievable.

Alice reeled back, covering her nose.

Mirta unashamedly pulled the collar of her shirt over her face and looked in. the witch in the bed had a sheet up to her neck and a breathing mask over her face so it was hard to tell, but Mirta didn't think it was anybody she knew. "Will she be all right?"

"In a few months."

Selene looked a little nervous. "Enchantix healing—I can't screw it up and do more damage can I? You're sure? Ok, stand back." She transformed, and held out her hands again. This time Mirta could see a glowing bottle made of blue crystal appear in her hands. Fairy dust streamed out from it in a wide cloud. Just standing nearby Mirta felt it shimmer over her skin.

The witch in the bed stirred and coughed and mumbled, "What the heck was that?" and Dr. Martin and a nurse both rushed over to her.

For a second, Mirta was really, really jealous. Witches could do healing spells, her mother could make potions that made people better, but no witch could do this. She was never going to be able to do this.

"So why doesn't the hospital have an enchantix fairy working here?" Alice asked once the patient had been checked out and pronounced almost fully recovered.

"We did, until she returned to her own realm—some emergency or other. The hospital is looking for a new on-call fairy. Interested?"

Alice looked thoughtful. Selene said, "Sorry, I'm going to the police academy after graduation.

As celebrities of the day, they got free lunch in the hospital cafeteria—the food was good, to Mirta's surprise—while various doctors thanked them and told stories of weird patients who came in on full-moon nights. For instance: a sorcery student trying the old "become an eagle or a fly" had gotten the ingredients mixed up and turned into a mixture of both. Ugh! And Mirta told a few stories of people who came to her mother for cures and de-spell potions, and Priscilla had a few stories, and everyone had a good time.


	14. Chapter 14

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 14

_Dear Mirta,_

_ News from the boats: those water breathing potions you sent are great! We already needed one—something hit one of the boats and it had to be fixed from underneath. The question is, what hit it? A very important question when we're sitting right on top of ancient ruins of a magical civilization. I'm going to request no more aquatic dig sites, seriously._

_ But we are finding things. Mom brought up some scrolls we can sort of read, which is a BIG DEAL because we have almost no writing from back then. Atlan used a language similar to the old witch language, close enough we can translate it if we tweak the spell right. Here's the story, in brief:_

_ Atlan and its sister realm Sapphire (don't quote me on the names, they may be wrong) were centers of magical study, made great discoveries, forefront of research, blah blah blah. Then someone discovered the exile spell and began the Demon War. Both realms were attacked. Sapphire was taken and sealed by the demons. The king of Atlan was determined to fight to the last warrior, the last golem, and the last trap spell..._

_ And his realm is now underwater because its icecaps melted._

_ And what happened to the people in the other realm when it was sealed away? Are they still there? Are they still alive? Are they trapped inside with a freakin' DEMON? I read somewhere about a sealed realm that opened and the people inside had lived and had children for several generations, enslaved to the demon that controlled the realm._

_ Yeah, I'm having dark thoughts lately._

_ About your big question: I've been asking some of Mom's friends about the whole witch/fairy thing. There is a little bit of interesting there._

_ If you go back far enough, and I mean pre-writing, pictures-on-walls far enough, everybody has wings. Everybody female and some of the males anyway. So were they all fairies back then or were the witches like you and the wingless kind came later? The problem is that we're talking about the time of the Demon War when nearly all realms used Angle-form A, which hasn't been deciphered so we may never know what they were saying._

_ But there are pictures that look a lot like the "three ancestors." Could they be that old? Could they be like nymphs, only witches? Wouldn't it be nice if it turns out they started the grudge between witches and fairies? Then Princess Bloom could take care of them and everyone could live in peace!_

_ Well, we can hope._

_ Wingless witches start to appear after the Demon War. There are also a lot of pictures of walled cities, or it could be all the same walled city. There were plenty of large population centers at the time- Arcadia, Coventry, Magix, Dreamsport, Celestia City and Petalmere, and a few more I forgot, and a few more more that have been abandoned since then. _

_ It's not a lot to go on, but it's what I've got._

Along with the letter Orion had sent a picture, probably copied from a book, of an ancient painting. It really did look like the ancestor witches, hovering over a city with walls and towers. Mirta sat with her chin on her hand and looked at it for a few minutes.

Asking a genuine archaeological assistant hadn't been very helpful, but it was more interesting than the pile of books spread out on her library table. She'd been reading about witch and fairy history, and most of it was each side claiming the other side had done something terrible.

The fairies were too goody-goody to do "what needed to be done," whatever that was. The witches were too violent to live peacefully. The fairies made laws so strict nobody could follow them. The witches refused to let the rightful king rule the kingdom. The fairies outlawed the making of golems. The witches made so many golems that nobody could get jobs. The fairies betrayed everyone. The witches betrayed everyone. And on and on and Mirta didn't really believe any of it.

She'd had to look up what a golem was. They were clay statues brought to life by magic. Which sounded totally creepy but apparently five hundred years ago they had been more popular than designer jeans!

The library was actually very nice. Morning sunlight was streaming in the high windows and the bookshelves and tables were gleaming. Mirta had a long table to herself, spread with books and her notebook. Hexen was stretched out on the table, all six paws in the air. He lazily grabbed for the pixie owl, who kept fluttering by just out of reach.

Since it was before noon on a Sunday the library was mostly empty. Kaie was reading magazines, Comfrey was reading something from the medical section, and a couple of first-years were crowded around a table talking in hushed voices.

Concorda fluttered past, a trail of books floating behind her. She directed each volume to its proper shelf and each one floated into place. The first-years all turned to watch the display of magic.

"Miss Concorda?" Mirta asked,

"Yes dear?"

"Do you know why fairies and witches don't like each other? Why it started I mean?"

The pixie sighed. "That's a big question. I don't know the answer. When I came to Alfea—quite a long time ago!-the feud was already old. The witches and fairies of Magix were pitching curses at each other long before the two schools were built. They don't know why. I tend to think the witches started it, but Discorda is sure the fairies are to blame. Of course not all witches are trying to live up to the example of the three ancestors, like Icy and her sisters are, but witches like those three certainly don't help."

"My friend thinks it goes back to something called the Demon War. We haven't had that in history yet."

"Yes, demons are third-year study. They were shut out of the world, made unable to exist in any realm with solid matter, by the strongest spell ever cast. That was the Demon War, fifty years of battles all part of the one spell."

Mirta tried to imagine a spell that would take fifty years to cast, and failed. Ok, really high level witches might be able to sustain their concentration for a couple of days, and there were some spells you could start casting then sort of feed as you went about your day but... fifty years?

And now she was going to have to read up on demons, whatever they were. She didn't think she could face any more dry, boring books about creepy stuff today. Luckily, she already had the afternoon scheduled and it was about time to go. She shut the library books and activated the magic that sent them sailing back to their places while she collected her own notes.

Ancient history—boring!

Shopping—interesting!

Lucy was outside the store when Mirta arrived with cat in tow. The witchmart was having a big sale, and had a huge bin of pumpkins outside. It was pretty well picked over by now, but there were still some good ones left. The first task was choosing their pumpkins. Luckily the two girls had opposite taste; Lucy liked her pumpkins tall and thin and Mirta liked round ones. Hexen jumped into the bin and nosed his choices to the side where the girls could reach them. Shortly they had half a dozen each lined up for final selection.

"How many are you getting?" Lucy asked.

"Just four. My room's not that big."

Lucy grinned slyly, "Maybe you should get a little one to carry in case you have to go to the bathroom in the night. I bet Alfea doesn't ward all the windows. And you're allll alooooone."

_That_ had not occurred to Mirta. Witches' New Year was when the spirits of the dead roamed the land. So you set lighted pumpkins facing each direction, three with scary faces to keep angry spirits away and one with a smiling face to invite friendly spirits to visit. Most witch buildings would put a pumpkin in every window just in case. Cloud Tower lit up like a beacon every year. But since the restless spirits only bothered witches, Alfea had no reason to guard all the windows.

Mirta made a face. "Oh... maybe I need a few extra..."

Hexen trilled and batted a hand-sized pumpkin.

"You want that one? Ok, you can have your own. Just don't try to eat it."

Pumpkins decided on, they went inside to pay, and look at all the great stuff for sale.

There was a display of wands carved by local artists, for witches old-school enough to want to use one. It wasn't Mirta's style, but boy were they pretty! Lucy crouched down to look in the case. "Ok, if I was going traditional... that one." Her choice was a long, elegant wand painted black with a spiral of silver wire from one end to the other. "What's your favorite?"

"Hmm..." they were all pretty, but a short, shimmery green wand with a crystal sphere on one end caught Mirta's eye. "That one. If I weren't afraid I'd forget how to manage without it."

The next case was full of enchanted jewelry—protective amulets, earrings that would translate any language, beauty-enhancing necklaces and other shiny things with different spells on them.

Mirta wanted to check out the fortune telling tools. The store had a whole rack of pendulums, different decks of fortune telling cards, and shelves of scrying bowls and mirrors.

"You think you could scry back that far?" Lucy asked.

"Not really." Mirta sighed. "Miss Griffin can't. I was thinking more of... looking for clues."

"Clues?"

"You know, all that symbolic stuff you get from scrying." Mirta looked longingly at a silver mirror of Elven design. You could scry in anything reflective, fairies used the bathroom mirrors all the time, but you'd get more with better tools. Maybe if they went to the legendary Mirror of Truth or something...

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Symbolic stuff. That's why I barely passed divination last year!"

"It's an elective at Alfea, I skipped it. But now that I'm on this 'quest' I'll have to start sitting in on classes."

Hexen was walking around sniffing things with interest, his usual cat behavior. He passed the book section, stared briefly at a huge drum sitting on the floor, and stopped at a display of living statues. A cat carved of solid obsidian came alive and slowly blinked its eyes at the real cat. Hexen blinked back and leaned in to touch noses with the stone feline.

Lucy had stopped to check out the magazines. Mirta went on to the ingredient racks and got a few jars of things the Alfea potions lab didn't have on hand: wool of bat, powdered leeches, eye of newt substitute, and some sunflower dust. They'd been having adventures in dark places recently so it might be good to have something on hand to make magical lights brighter.

"I also have some dragon eggshell on hand." the clerk said. He was somewhat reptilian himself, with thin lips and a hissing voice.

Mirta looked up at the jar, which was up on a high shelf. The powder inside glittered and stirred under its own power. "Where did you get it?"

"A hero stole the empty shells from a dragon's cave and sold them to me. Can I get you a spoonful? The price is very reasonable."

Reasonable, but not worth having an angry dragon track you down and eat you for theft. "No thanks, just these and the pumpkins." She handed over money. Lucy paid for her stuff, they called Hexen away from his statue friend and went out into the sunshine.

It was autumn, but under Magix's weather spells it never really got cold. Even at midwinter the Alfea students would be wearing miniskirts and tummy-baring shirts in perfect comfort.

"You think that dragon eggshell was real?" luck asked.

"If a dragon comes to take it back, we'll know!" Mirta replied.

"Hey, look what your cat found!"

A fortune teller's tent had been set up on the corner. It was purple with gold cords and Hexen was sitting outside. He trilled at them.

"Hexen thinks we should get a reading." Lucy said. She bounced over, swinging her bags. Mirta followed. Well, she had been thinking about divination and here was an expert. A real one too, from the slight haze of magic around the tent.

The sign outside said, 'Your Fortune Revealed.'

"Let's do it." Mirta said. She had an extra silver, which was the traditional rate.

The cat went in first. It was a small tent, just big enough for the fortune teller, her table with the traditional crystal ball, and two customers. The fortune teller was dressed in purple robes, with a veil over her face. She felt like a witch, to Mirta's guess, and she bent down to offer Hexen her hand to sniff.

"Could we have readings please?"

A raspy voice came from behind the veil, "One question each. Your biggest question. The answers will be true for the most probable future, but may not make sense. That is the nature of divination. I am afraid, no answers for the cat."

"Meow!"

"My powers only work on humans. Sorry kitty."

"Mrrt."

Lucy gave her friend a sideways look. "Mirta, you have got to figure out what kind of cat that is, that wants his fortune told."

"But that's not my biggest question, and we only get one."

"One each." the fortune teller confirmed. "You first."

Lucy handed over a silver and closed her eyes, thinking of her biggest question.

The fortune teller looked down at her crystal ball, which swirled with milky colors. "Yes. Someday people in a thousand realms will think you are beautiful."

Lucy gasped, her hands going to her mouth. "Really?"

"Nothing is completely certain. Every choice changes the future. But it is very likely. Now your question..."

Mirta passed over a coin and tried to stop being startled by Lucy's answer enough to think of her own question.

"Ah. I am afraid I can't see back far enough to tell you the first annoying thing the fairies did. I hope you figure it out though. So, your second biggest question..."

Mirta tried to think of another _useful_ question, she had so many but the question sitting in the front of her mind wasn't one of them.

"Ah, the usual question. Yes, he honestly does like you."

Mirta blushed. Lucy giggled.

"...but whether the two of you have a future, that depends on many possibilities. Some choices are yours, but some are his to make and others... there is great darkness around this situation. There may be no chance for a good outcome."

"What does that mean?"

"Trust your heart and what can be saved, will be."

Well that sure sounded like a fortune, complete with symbolic stuff. Mirta went back to the part that did make sense. "He likes me."

"He likes you. Now shoo, I have other clients to tell about their sweethearts."

Mirta and Lucy practically danced outside. Lucy immediately pounced, "Seriously? A guy? That sorcery student? You really like him?"

Blushing furiously Mirta stuttered, "Well, I guess... I mean, I hardly even know him but I liked talking to him and I want to see him again. Actually, I'm wondering if I should invite him to the dance at Alfea."

"Do it!"

"You think I should?"

"Absolutely! Otherwise you'll just end up dancing with one of the nerds they truck in from Red Fountain."

That was a good point. There were some pretty cool guys at Red Fountain, but all the nicest ones seemed to be taken, or else they wouldn't be caught dead dancing with a witch.

Lucy ordered, "Call him. Right now, before you wimp out."

She was making a fuss so Mirta wouldn't ask about her question, and they both knew it. Mirta wanted to say something, but... what? "Well I think you're beautiful the way you are" didn't work if it was your friend saying it, just like it didn't work if it was you mom saying it. And there wasn't really anything else. So instead she ducked into the doorway of a closed shop for privacy and got out her phone. Lucy hovered. Hexen hovered too, as if _he_ knew what was going on!

"Um, Keith? Hi, it's Mirta."

"Hey, hi! I'm glad you called. What's up?"

"Um, there's—next Friday is the school dance at Alfea. We're allowed to invite people so—do you want to go? With me?"

Silence. It was worse than facing a hungry troll.

Then Keith said, "Sure. I mean, I'd like to. But I don't know how to dance."

In the background another voice said, "There's a spell for that."

Into the phone Keith said, "According to my roommate that's not a problem. And since Jess is eavesdropping on us here I'm sure he already knows what to wear to a dance at Alfea."

Mirta said, "The Red Fountain guys just wear their uniforms. I think yours would be fine too."

Somewhere at Professor Balthazar's Academy Jess said, "Did you buy your entire wardrobe at the school store? Do you own anything that isn't black?"

"Get out of my closet!" Keith said, but he sounded like he was laughing. "Yeah, I think I can manage clothes. What time should I be there?"

"Music starts at eight." Mirta said.

"Sounds good. I'll see you there."

Mirta hung up in a daze.

"Well? What did he say?"

"He said yes! I can't believe it! What am I going to wear?"

Lucy agreed they needed to at least walk through the witch section of town and see if the perfect dress happened to be hanging in a window. There were some very nice dresses in windows. Other Cloud Tower students were out too, carrying bags with their pumpkins and looking at clothes. Shilly was looking at a red satin confection in a window. She waved to Lucy and Mirta and the three of them wandered into the store together.

"How about this?" Lucy asked, holding up a dress of black-on-black velvet.

"You'd be invisible." Mirta pointed out and Shilly laughed.

Shilly was their age, from Coventry Isle. She wore her dusky purple hair back in a long tail. Shilly wasn't bad, as witches went, and she immediately joined in the quest to find Mirta the perfect dance dress.

"Off the sale rack!" Mirta reminded them.

"Hey, you go to Alfea but you still dress like a witch." Shilly said.

"I told my parents I needed a new wardrobe for fairy school, but they didn't believe me."

Lucy and Shilly laughed. Shilly said, "Ok, I'm going for the red one."

"To match your twenty other red dresses." Lucy noted.

"Not twenty..."

Mirta had found, abandoned on the sale rack, a dress of patchwork velvet in foresty shades of green and brown. The skirt was several layers, purposely tattered at the bottom, and the bodice laced up with gold cord. Maybe it would even lace up tight enough to show curves! Mirta liked it. And she could afford it!

Lucy was looking at the loosest skirts. "For dancing." She said. She put one on over her shorts and lifted one leg up so her foot went over her head.

Mirta was impressed. She couldn't do that. "Your dance class taught you that?"

"Yeah. I'm really getting into it."

Shilly gave her a questioning look. Lucy made a face and explained, "First year, I entered the Miss Magix pageant."

Shilly snickered. "No way! Seriously?"

"I got Icy and her sisters to give me dance spells and beauty spells and everything. Really dumb. Of course it all wore off halfway through the show. I'd agreed to do their homework all year in exchange, Miss Griffin put a stop to that but she decided I should take real dance classes as a punishment. Only I likie it. I'm getting a little bit good." She smiled a shy little smile.

Shilly was sort of coughing like she wanted to laugh at Lucy but was trying not to. "Miss Magix? Seriously? You thought you could win? They'd never pick a witch!"

"Yeah, I said it was dumb. Anyway, what about this green one? Our dance isn't until next month so I'll have enough allowance to buy it."

"You could come to the one at Alfea you know. You too, Shilly."

Shilly laughed. "We're witches. _Our_ school tradition is to wreck _your_ school's dance. So we can't go to it!"

"Not that it's going to be interesting this year." Lucy muttered."

"Luce, don't tell her!"

"I'm not, I don't know what they're planning. But it's Nixie and Megara, and they're not as cool as the Trix."

"No, but they think they are." Shilly giggled, "I saw them and Electra trying to get into the secret room in the library to read the forbidden books. They couldn't get it open."

Mirta pictured the three witches straining at the wall with the secret doorway, and burst out laughing. "So who even told them where the door is?"

The gossip lasted through buying their dresses, and all the way home.

Two nights later Mirta finished carving the last face on the last pumpkin. She summoned a light and dropped it in, and had to put the lid on fast before it bobbed out again. The light gave a menacing look to the pumpkin's clumsily carved scowl. There was a giant bowl of pumpkin guts which Hexen had sniffed, dabbed at, and tried to bury under the carpet. The whole room smelled orange and gooey.

"Meeeew!" Hexen jumped up on the windowsill and looked out. The moon wasn't up so nothing was happening yet. Mirta set the pumpkin next to the cat, "Don't knock it over ok?"

The other three had been lighted and set up, facing into the walls, but it was the direction that counted. She'd carved the little pumpkin too, in case she had to leave the room tonight.

She had homework to do, a page of questions on potion ingredients and another one about charms. Important stuff to memorize, if you didn't want to accidentally turn into a chicken. She got to work.

Half an hour later Hexen yowled and Mirta turned to the window. The moon was rising. A low hissing wind began to blow. In the city everyone would be feeling like it was time to get inside, like the air had become hostile. Mirta sat down and rested her elbows on the windowsill, between lantern and cat.

The cloud of the dead came boiling across the sky like dark clouds. The fairies and civilians in Magix would just see a sudden autumn storm but the witches saw the faces in the clouds, and the capes and claws and vast dark wings.

Most people went peacefully on when they died, but some, the angry people, stayed and after a while they began to look more like anger and less like people. They couldn't hurt anyone, but they wanted to and their wanting hung oppressively over the city. Around the raging storm darted the souls of heroes, flashing like lightning as they kept their fellow ghosts harmless. The nymphs would be up there, this was one of their jobs.

The air in the room stirred. Mirta turned. A cloud was coalescing in the middle of the room. Hexen stared at it then chirped hello.

"Grandpa!" Mirta exclaimed, and jumped up to hug the appearing ghost. It felt like hugging clouds, but that was all right.

"Good heavens my dear, you haven't taken over the fairy school and made them all your slaves yet? I'm very disappointed."

Mirta laughed. "Sorry, haven't gotten around to it yet." Her grandfather had said the exact same thing last year.

"At least you still look like a witch. I'm glad to see that. How are you doing?"

"I'm great! I like this school much better than Cloud Tower. My grades are ok. And look at this!" Mirta stretched out her arm and summoned her gloomix.

"Wonderful! It's beautiful. But what a strange aura."

"I made the bargain with an elemental, not a dark force."

"Really? What an interesting idea, I've never heard of anything like that. I think I approve though. It must be safer."

"Miss Griffin said I might be the first witch in a long time to think about it. Grandpa, I've got a question—for school. If it's ok..."

Her grandfather squeezed her shoulders, "Yes I know about your project, but I can't help you. All I know is that fairies are too busy worrying about being 'good.' They might not use all their strength, so they might lose. You can't depend on them!"

Mirta thought of Selene standing up to the troll, Priscilla letting herself be stung when she wouldn't even get her enchantix from it, Princess Aisha offering to give up her sight. They weren't weak. She didn't say it though. Instead she said, "I met someone. A boy someone, I mean. He's coming to the dance next week. So... you taught me to dance, want to practice?" She held out her arms.

The old wizard chuckled. "There is nothing I'd rather do."

Music rang through the school. The big Alfea ballroom twinkled with magical lights and the fairies drifted around the floor like flowers.

Mirta was worried that she looked more like a weed. She was waiting by the door, since nobody here was interested in dancing with her. Flora and Helia swept past, dancing so they seemed to float on air.

"At least Red Fountain teaches them something useful." Katy chirped.

"Princes have to be able to impress princesses." Mirta said distractedly. She was watching the door. Where was Keith? Had he decided not to come after all?

There were Alice and Jared. He was wearing a real suit instead of his uniform, and looked unexpectedly handsome. Alice had found a dress the exact color of her hair all satin with net overskirts. She looked lovely, elegant and perfect. Selene was dancing with Kimmy. They'd gotten bored after being passed over and having to miss the couples dances. Priscilla was getting food, on the arm of a dark-haired boy in blue. Lolina was in the crowd around the punchbowl, talking with a group that included Ortensia and some second-years Mirta didn't know.

"Alice and Jared look so good together." Katy said a bit wistfully.

"I think they're pretty serious. Look how Amore's watching them."

The pixies were fluttering over the dancers, trailing glitter. Amore was paying special attention to... well, pretty much all the couples.

"She wanted to pass out soulmate blossoms but Miss F said even if the couples were meant to be they should wait until after high school."

Mirta was about to say that was sensible when the door opened and there he was.

Keith had found a suit somewhere, with a red silk shirt that showed off every angle of his body. Bits of Mirta's brain that had previously only noticed movie stars were suddenly very interested.

"Me-yow." Katy whispered appreciatively. Just then Amore landed on her shoulder and whispered to her. Whatever the pixie said, Katy was distracted and Mirta took the opportunity to abandon her friend.

"Hi."

Keith bowed, "Good evening. You look amazing."

"So do you." Mirta stuttered. She hadn't expected to be bowed to, and it was so cool.

"I'll tell Jess. These are his clothes."

Mita giggled, "You really _didn't _have anything but uniforms?"

"Not even one shirt. I'm sorry, they're here too. They decided to sneak in, Sterling wanted to see Selene. I hope she won't mind."

"I don't think she will. She likes him, it's just—complicated."

"Ah. Thankfully there's nothing we can do about them now so—would you like to dance?"

"Yes. I would."

It was a little bit awkward at first. Mirta had never actually seriously danced with a guy, and she wasn't used to wearing a long dress. Keith whispered that he'd never danced with a girl either, but he knew where to put his hands and they both knew the steps, and suddenly the music caught up with them and everything fell into place.

And it was perfect. The music swept them along and everyone around them was moving in the same rhythm and everything was beautiful.

It was quite a few songs before they stopped dancing and went looking for drinks. Chatta and Zendy were minding the refreshments, which included cheese and crackers and little cakes and a bowl of raspberry lemonade with heart-shaped ice cubes. Mirta and Keith both gulped their first cups and got refills.

"You want to go outside?" Mirta asked.

"Let's. No more fast dances for a while!"

Outside it was cooler. The two of them leaned on a low stone wall and watched the magic lights bobbing in the garden.

"I'm having a great time." Keith said after a few minutes of sipping their drinks in silence.

"Me too." Now that they weren't dancing, Mirta ran out of words again.

"What are those?"

Mirta looked. Down the hill the pixie animals were dancing around a fountain. "They came to school with the pixies and just hung around."

"Magical animals? Let's go say hello."

The pixie critters flew out to surround them. The pixie cat pounced on the hem of Mirta's dress and the pixie owl hovered in front of Keith. He held out a hand, "Nice to meet you." and somberly, and very carefully, shook hands.

A plaintive mew announced Hexen was there too, and grouchy at not being noticed. Mirta crouched down to pat him, "And this is my cat. His name is Hexen, because of his legs."

Keith offered his hand to be sniffed. "Hi kitty-cat."

"You don't know what he is do you?"

"Six legs? No idea. Are you sure he's not a normal cat someone changed?"

"You can do that?"

"I read somewhere sorcerers used to use their magic to stick extra heads and legs on things to make monster armies. The council made it a restricted spell because it's cruel and also nobody wants anyone to have monster armies. Maybe this guy belonged to some criminal wizard or something."

"I don't know. Hex was a tiny baby when I found him, and nobody ever tried to get him back."

"Mrr." Hexen said, and began to purr smugly.

"Now I know you're a witch, you have a strange pet, and you're a good dancer. What else is there to know about Mirta?"

Mirta thought. "I'm from Witches' Sphere and my folks have a potions business. I'm not a princess. I like both witch and fairy music, my hobby is studying magical history, and my favorite ice cream is Witch Chip. I'm pretty boring except the wings thing. Your turn."

Keith paused a minute like he was committing that to memory. To Mirta's delight he didn't immediately ask about the wings thing. "Hmm... my favorite ice cream is triple chocolate. I'm a third-year sorcery student with a specialty in summoning, and I'm a total commoner too."

"With a mysterious past?" Mirta asked.

"Oh that. Yes. There are some complicated things going on with me too, but they won't bother you."

Well that was straightforward. Mirta smiled. "I'd help, if I could, if it's that kind of complicated."

"I'll ask, if it gets to be. Want to go back to the party?" Keith held out his arm gallantly.

Complicated or not, it was nice to be treated like a princess. Hexen walked in front of them, his tail up happily.

Passing a hedge Keith suddenly stopped and put a finger to his lips. Voices, from somewhere to their left. A male voice, then Selene's voice, "...and I can't believe you don't know. So how can we be friends?"

Mirta bit her lip. She wanted to say something, but it wouldn't help. Selene and Sterling had to figure this out.

Keith tightened his arm in Mirta's and tugged her on. Music reached them from the ballroom, a slow song led by the high notes of a flute.

Mirta put her worry aside. "They must've convinced Galatea to play. Let's go listen!"

They went inside.


	15. Chapter 15

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 15

The summons to the headmistress' office had been delivered at breakfast. Mirta arrived to find Alice, Priscilla, Lolina and Katy already there, busily checking out the office while Miss Faragonda wasn't there to stop them. Mirta joined her friends looking at a wall of photos of previous students, whole classes, and Miss F with various important people. At one end, in a thick gold frame, was a gorgeous painting of six proud warriors posing ready for battle.

"Isn't that Miss Griffin?" Priscilla asked.

Mirta nodded. The Cloud Tower headmistress looked really different when she was young. She looked ready to defeat anything, not just unruly students.

"And that's Saladin of Red Fountain. This must be when Miss F was in the Company of Light!"

Everybody squeezed in to look. Lolina said, "What I really want to know is who's _that_ guy? And does he have a son our age?" She made a swoony gesture.

"A daughter actually." Miss Faragonda said from the doorway. "That's Bloom's father, prince Oritel. Still breaking hearts from beyond the grave I see." The headmistress smiled fondly at the picture of her friends.

Mirta wanted stories. Specifically, Company of Light stories. She'd read the official version in her history textbook of course, brave magicians facing down evil, protecting the innocent, doing amazing things until they were finally defeated by the ancestor witches and their homunculus wizard Valtor... but to hear about it from someone who was there...

But it would probably be rude to ask. The king and queen of Domino were, well, either dead or sealed away somewhere and the other man in the Company of Light had gone off to live a solitary life, so there were probably some bad memories.

Miss Faragonda stepped over to her desk. "But the reason I called you all—Alice, I got a call from your parents. They're having trouble and would like all of you to see if you can help."

"I can go?"

"I would like the five of you to go. The arrangements have been made, you leave first thing tomorrow, with a day's stopover at the dimensional port on Linphea. Since you have a day there, I've arranged an educational cloud tour."

Priscilla made a happy little sound. Whatever there was to take a tour of in the clouds, it must be something good. This was starting to sound like a great vacation.

Alice said, "What about Selene and Kimmy? They'd be awfully good to have if there's trouble."

"Selene and Kimmy are going to Arcadia. The duke's son invited them on some kind of emergency diplomatic mission." Miss Faragonda said. She waved her hand as if to say it wasn't important, but Mirta was sure she knew every last detail of the situation and thought the two girls would be able to do some good.

Her friends were already celebrating. Katy and Lolina hugged each other and squealed. Priscilla was already on the phone to her family in Linphea. Alice was smiling quietly.

"So what was the problem?" Mirta asked her.

"Oh... my family has a ranch, we raise and train flying horses. In the last two weeks four horses have disappeared. Mom thinks it's the witches who own the ranch over the mountains, spelling away our horses to sell. But there's no evidence of that and you can guess how the witches reacted when the police told them... it's a mess."

"So we'll stop at my realm for a day then go get evidence to put these horsenappers in jail! Easy!"

Miss Faragonda chuckled, "I hope it is, Priscilla. You will all have to write reports about your experiences, so please take some kind of journal with you to write down everything that happens. Otherwise you're excused from the homework you'll miss—but not from this morning's classes, so off you go!"

They headed for class, Mirta holding her books with one hand and sending Lucy a message on her phone with the other. She was going to miss the Cloud Tower dance—not that she would've gone, but she might have gone to help Lucy get ready.

Now—should she send Keith a message? Would that be too pushy since they weren't officially going out? But what if he wanted to hang out while she was gone? This whole 'boys' thing was turning out to be complicated.

Then there was class, and packing, and messaging back and forth with Lucy, and bed.

In the morning they turned up at the port, yawning and trying to read their guidebooks and pester Priscilla and Alice about where they were going. Linphea sounded absolutely amazing. Lots of people wanted to go there anyway; the ship was full up. The girls found their seats and settled in with their books.

This was only Mirta's third trip by dimension ship, so it was still exciting. She hung onto the armrest during takeoff then, when interdimensional space filled the windows, opened her book. It was a novel that Professor Avalon had recommended in one of his lectures on the nature of heroism, about a student fairy and a student priestess protecting their city by breaking the law. Mirta was engrossed in the heroine's long-distance romance with a detective when someone on the other side of the ship gasped loudly. Then everyone was whispering, talking, shouting, crowding into the windows to get a look.

"A unicorn... it's a unicorn..."

Mirta—and everyone else—strained to see around each other out the small portholes. Katy switched forms and scrambled up the seat backs to get a look.

The intercom said, "Please, return to your seats!"

Some of the passengers did. Most didn't.

The pilot got on the intercom again, "Seems we got lucky; he's circling us, you'll all get a view. So sit down!"

That got people crowded at the windows on both sides, which was probably safer anyway. Mirta and Katy crowded to their window, Katy's furry cat head under Mirta's chin.

Outside was nothing but swirls of blue and purple that moved like waves and sort of looked like goo or something pressed right up against the glass. Then something appeared, a dot trailing a bright tail, and the swirls and waves were suddenly three dimensional. A curve of color became a hill and the unicorn was racing up it.

It wasn't the sleek white creature Mirta had been expecting; it was low and stocky, running on lionlike paws, covered in violet scales with tufts of white fur between them. A tank of a unicorn, almost ugly except that it glowed like a falling star. It was dazzling, alien, beautiful.

And gone, streaking out of sight like a comet.

Everyone was talking at once. A ki-rin, we saw one, I never thought I'd see one. Did you get a picture, did it turn out? Did it speak to anyone? Did it look at us? Where was it going? Could it have come here just to see us? Stop the ship, it might come back!

The ship did idle for ten minutes, then the pilot announced that they had to keep on schedule and they should all feel honored to have seen one of the rarest and most magical creatures in the universe.

"Unbelievable." Priscilla said, hugging herself in delight.

Alice said, "Ki-rin appear to important people, or the mothers of important people. Do you think that counts as 'appearing'?"

Katy shook her head. Lolina did thumbs down. Priscilla said, "It was just going past."

Mirta had to agree. It would be great to be important enough to be noticed by a unicorn, but thinking about it honestly... it was just going past.

The excitement was dying down and people were returning to their books, video games, or naps. Lolina passed her camera around; she'd gotten a good picture. "I'll send you all a copy when we land."

Mirta went back to her book. It was longer than she'd thought and she reached the end—the thief and the detective got married—just as they landed. Deep in the story, she hadn't watched the landing, and now there was nothing outside the window but trees. The air coming in the open door was wet and heavy and smelled green. The line of people getting off was moving slowly.

"Get a move on." Katy grumbled under her breath.

Priscilla looked back at her and smiled.

The line of people and suitcases shuffled forward, then shuffled some more. Finally the girls made it to the door. They walked out onto an open bridge. They were outside, surrounded by the tops of huge trees. The port was a round platform with other ships docked at long bridges around it. Mirta looked up.

And stopped.

A yellow planet hung above them, filling half the sky. It swirled from pale gold to almost orange, like a living pearl.

"Oh wow." Someone said.

Priscilla grabbed Lolina and Alice and tugged them towards the building. "That's Marigold, our mother planet. You can look more later."

"It's so close." Alice said.

It really was. Close enough to touch, close enough that the rest of the sky was bleached to a pale greenish-white. The sun, off to one side, looked small and distant.

They went inside and downstairs to get their luggage. There were large signs warning fliers to use caution and fly low. Thanks to the day-cycles of the two planets, they'd arrived in the early morning, about the same time of day they'd left Magix. They had all day to be touristy. The cloud tour was in the afternoon, and then they were having dinner with Priscilla's family.

While the girls collected all their bags, Priscilla called home. "Ok, Mom says we can have lunch there too, or grab something on the way. Mom and Dad can't wait to meet you guys. Is that all the bags?"

It was a mountain of bags. Katy had changed to her cat form and climbed to the top, counting. "Meow!"

Alice picked hers out. "You have to change back and carry your own."

"Meow-ow." Katy whined.

From behind them a voice said, "Yeah kitty-kitty, no servants to take care of you here."

Everyone turned. Behind them were two girls wearing black school uniforms and nasty expressions. They both had their hair in sausage curls, one blonde and one brunette. They were carrying suitcases too, obviously just off another ship.

Katy hopped down and resumed her human form. "I never had a servant in my life. What gives?"

"Oh, are you guys the _poor _Alfea students? Scholarship girls?"

"I hear they take in orphans from backward realms."

"So much for the top fairy school in the universe."

Mirta, totally at sea, looked at her friends. "Who..?"

"They're from Beta Academy." Alice said.

Lolina added, "The _second_ best fairy school in the universe."

"It's the best. So much less pretentious without all the spoiled princesses cluttering up the place."

Lolina shot back, "Like the spoiled princesses who totally saved the realm last year?"

"Loli, ignore them, let's go."

But Katy's hair was starting to fluff up like it did when she was angry and Lolina wasn't about to let it go. "And their uniforms are ugly."

Actually the Betas' uniforms were black and purple minidresses with lots of lace petticoats, and Mirta thought they were pretty cute. She wondered if the hairdo was part of the uniform.

Suddenly the blonde clapped her hand to her mouth. "Ohmigosh. Trish, that one's a witch!"

"What? No way."

"Seriously! The redhead, the sad droopy one."

Trish looked at Mirta and giggled. "Alfea really must be short of good students if they've stooped to letting witches in!"

Sad and droopy? Mirta looked down at her clothes: black jeans, pumpkin shirt, awesome rhinestone belt. What was sad and droopy? Maybe her hair?

Zendy burst out of Alice's purse in a shower of glitter. "All of you, stop it! You are all on the same team! What would your teachers say if they saw you fighting like this?"

The Beta girls looked at each other. Lolina and Katy were at least distracted by the pixie's sudden appearance. Alice and Priscilla took the opportunity to get their friends moving away from the fight.

Outside, in the bright reflected light of Marigold, Mirta asked, "What's Beta Academy? I thought Alfea's only feud was with Cloud Tower."

"Beta's just another fairy school. It's in Arcadia, where Selene's from. They take girls who didn't get the invitation to Alfea—and they have to dress like that, the poor things!"

"So they're jealous they didn't get into our school?"

"That's it! And they know we're better fairies." Lolina chirped.

Alice said patiently, "Better fairies look for a peaceful solution."

Katy stuck out her tongue.

Priscilla rolled her eyes at them. "Are we going to be grouchy or have a fun vacation? Because there's plenty to see."

There certainly was. Their hotel was across the street from the port. It was a tree. An actual tree, with little huts built on the huge branches. They got their keys and went up the hanging bridge to their room. It was really nice for something built on a tree—the beds were carved into the floor, lights hung from the ceiling and there was a normal, if wooden, bathroom.

"There's no electricity. Yeek! A lizard!" Lolina pointed. There was indeed a bright blue lizard clinging to the wall up near the ceiling. It flicked an equally blue tongue and blinked at them.

"Don't worry about them, they're all over the place. There's big bugs too, bigger than that guy." Priscilla said casually.

Big... bugs? Nobody had mentioned that! Mirta was checking out the lamps. They had no cords, and the bulbs were just empty glass. You could put a magic light in one, but the mention of bugs gave her an idea. "Fireflies?" She guessed.

"Yep!"

Leaving their luggage the girls went out to see the city. The whole place was built on and in and around the giant trees. Each tree was as big around as a big office building in Magix, and their rough bark held pockets of dirt where flowers and smaller trees grew. There were no roads, only paths where many walking feet had worn away the wild plant growth. The blue lizards were indeed everywhere, and there were bigger red and yellow ones too, and some kind of flying lizards Mirta didn't get a good look at.

And there were giant bugs. The first one was so big Mirta didn't realize it _was_ a bug; it was the size of a bus and wearing a saddle with rows of seats on it.

Katy's mouth dropped open. Lolina said, "It's a... bug-bus."

"Well in other realms people have horses..."

"I prefer horses." Alice said.

The bug-bus was stopped, and nibbling calmly on a big leaf someone had given it. Mirta walked around to its head. The thing was actually... well, being so big it wasn't all that gross. Its mouth was weird and its eyes were mirrory and stuck out of its face, but Mirta much preferred this critter over a normal tiny beetle. She still didn't want to pat it.

Zendy fluttered over and made a trilling sound. The bug-bus chirped back before returning to its leafy lunch.

Alice asked Priscilla, "So do you have one of these to ride?"

"I had a little one as a pet when I was a kid. About a foot long. He was sweet, he'd chirp at night and keep me company."

They got lunch at a cafe hanging halfway up the trunk of a tree. It was built hanging out over empty space and the floor bobbed slightly when anyone walked past, but nobody seemed worried that the whole thing might fall. Their food was brought on heavy ceramic plates that looked handmade. The food was vegetarian, because nobody wanted to risk accidentally eating bug meat, but it was delicious.

"Is technology allowed here at all?" Lolina asked, watching the living cars and trucks trundle by below.

"Some." Priscilla said, "Mostly we have natural alternatives—firefly lanterns instead of electric, those guys instead of cars, things like that. Everyone has a computer just like normal, but you wouldn't leave it out because it would disrupt the look of the room. The same way, the port has all the same tech as the port in Magix but it's hidden to preserve the look of the city."

"Speaking of looks, I love the leaf clothes everyone has on. But don't they wilt?"

Priscilla laughed, "Only if you forget the spell that keeps them fresh."

A girl at another table stood up and came over. "Hey, Priscilla, right?"

"Yeah! You're... we were in charms together..." She waved her hand, trying to remember the other girl's name. "...Lily! Hi! These are my friends from Alfea."

Lily had light brown skin and hair, and looked a little like Flora. "My friend Comfrey started at Alfea this year, do you know her?"

Katy grinned, "Yeah, we met her."

"Is she doing all right? She's getting better isn't she?"

Priscilla looked confused. Katy said, "She was all right enough to run off into the swamp and nearly get eaten by a troll!"

Lily gaped, then smiled. "I'm glad she's doing so well. Thank you!" She did a little wave and ran to join her parents, who were on their way out after finishing their meal.

"You think Comfrey's sick?" Mirta asked.

"That's what it sounded like." Katy said.

"Those moth cocoons are supposed to have healing powers, maybe that's why she went into the swamp. We can ask her when we get back. I hope she's all right, she seemed cool."

"Running off into the swamp within the first month of school? They could take over for us when we graduate!" Lolina laughed.

"Maybe. But first, we'd better finish our food- doesn't the tour start pretty soon?"

The tour left from a platform that carried them up into the sky. Marigold loomed close above them, and below Linphea spread out like a green quilt.

"What a view." Lolina said. She and Mirta were leaning on the guardrail looking out. The air had gotten drier as they climbed, and lots its rich scent.

Alice wandered over, with Zendy behind her, braiding her long hair back out of the way. "This is a flying tour, right? Or do we just ride around?"

"It's a flying tour." Priscilla assured them, "We'll get there soon."

Katy jumped and hissed. "Don't look now, it's those Betas!"

Lolina groaned, "Why'd they have to come?"

"They're just visiting, same as us." Alice said.

The Betas had seen them, and were doing a point-whisper-giggle routine probably designed to annoy its target. Mirta turned away, "Let's just ignore them. Look on the bright side—at least it's not Nixie, Electra and Megara up here with us!"

"What happened to them? Are they still at Cloud Tower?"

"Yeah, Lucy says-" Mirta forgot what she was saying, mid-word. Above them a great scything fin was parting the yellow clouds. "What is that?"

"A sky whale, cool! You hardly ever get to see one!"

"How big is it?" Katy asked, squinting upward as the fin surfaced again with a hint of broad back underneath. It was a good question; with nothing for scale it was hard to tell.

"About as big as... the main building at Alfea, I think."

Mirta rethought how big those clouds were. Bigger, and further away. "Are we flying anywhere near those things?"

The man in charge of the tour heard her. He raised his voice to get everyone's attention. "Those creatures are called sky whales, and they're bigger than a house! They rarely come out this far so it's a treat to see them. We will be flying at a safe distance from their territory—and they only eat krill anyway.

"And since we're almost there, I'd better start my speech! We're here to see some of the beautiful cloud formations of Marigold on the wing. We'll be flying here in the calm zone that isn't affected by either Marigold's or Linphea's gravity. The calm zone is five miles wide but we will be flying near the edge—so stay with the group at all times! Being caught by Linphea's gravity is no disaster for flyers, though it would be a long way down—but Marigold is a gas planet and those beautiful clouds are not something we can breathe! If you get caught in the gravity well, rescue will not come in time!

"Now that I've warned you, let's go!"

The guide opened his own wings, and gestured the passengers to pick up their temporary flight packs. Mirta and the fairies didn't need those of course.

Flying in the calm zone was very strange. The breeze came in tiny ripples, and there wasn't really enough gravity to tell up from down. Mirta's head spun for a good ten minutes before she got used to it and started to enjoy flying without having to make any effort.

Some of the cloud peaks towered into the calm zone and just stayed there with no wind to sweep them away. The group flew between giant towers and waves of golden vapor. In some places the elements of life were present and colonies of plants were growing, in groups of spheres with roots and leaves sticking out in every direction.

A flock of what looked like birds poured out of the clouds and surrounded them, chirring and chittering. They were actually lizards, with smooth red skin and rounded wings. Some people, including Priscilla, held out their arms and the lizards landed on them. Alice hid behind Mirta, and Zendy hid inside Alice's shirt. Mirta didn't want to get mobbed, but she held out her hand and a lizard landed on it. It tipped its head and chirped.

"It's cute." Alice said, "I guess."

Zendy said, "No it isn't."

It sort of was cute, like a buggy-eyed fish. It dropped off Mirta's hand and then the whole flock was flying away.

"Last stop up ahead!" The leader announced, "We'll go around that tower and then head back."

Mirta and Alice joined their friends, and they held hands and tried to see how fast they could fly with only one or two people moving their wings. Mirta's wings had twice the area of anyone else's, so she could tow the whole group without effort.

Everyone on the tour was playing too. Most of them couldn't normally fly so they were having a great time. The two Beta girls flashed past, holding hands and swinging back and forth in the air. They looked much less nasty when they were happy.

Then they started tossing a sparking ball of energy back and forth, and then summoning more and tossing them into Marigold where they sank into the canyons of yellow cloud.

Lolina put her arm around Mirta's shoulders and they leaned on each other, looking into the billowing golden fog.

"That's beautiful." Lolina said.

Mirta nodded. She was about to say something back when the clouds heaved and something huge came at them. For a second Mirta thought she was falling, that the ground was rushing at her.

Then it went past and the calm air was more like a hurricane. Mirta and Lolina were blown apart and there was nothing they could do because there was nothing but wind yanking back and forth.

Mirta's brain shut down for a second in sheer self defense. When she could see again the air was foggy and someone was falling towards her. She reached out instinctively and caught the limp form of one of the Betas. What was her name? Trish?

"Trish! Wake up!"

No good. The girl didn't look hurt, but she was down for the count.

What had happened?

Mirta couldn't see anything but fog, which stank in her nose and the back of her throat. Wind was blowing past her. She had to get back to clearer air, but her confused mind couldn't tell which way was up.

Then, far away, she saw a spark of green and heard a distant shout.

"Loli!" Mirta yelled, "Loli! Help!"

Lolina saw them. She threw a ring, but it only got halfway before the magic ran out and it disappeared. Mirta struggled upward but the air was thick and she was hauling a heavy body and coughing on the stinking fog.

Lolina was farther away. Mirta was trying to get to her, but she wasn't making any progress. She was falling.

Panic sharpened her mind. She summoned her gloomix and used magic to shove herself upward. She should have been light, for flying, but she felt like she weighed a thousand pounds and couldn't tell if she was getting anywhere. She'd lost sight of Lolina.

Really scared now, Mirta shook her passenger, "Wake up! You have to wake up!"

The air was getting worse. Mirta started coughing and couldn't fly anymore, she could barely manage to keep her wings spread to slow their fall. Drawing a breath that burned her throat she sent a panicked call to her patron spirit. It understood that people needed to breathe.

But nothing happened.

Mirta hefted Trish, getting a better grip on the unconscious girl. At least she didn't have to realize they weren't going to get out.

And there was no air, she was trying to breathe but there was no air and she was remembering the beautiful empty sky over Alfea and someone was there—Keith?-and he leaned forward and kissed her. His lips were cool and tasted like rain, and Mirta felt real air fill her lungs.

And she was back in the yellow clouds, but not falling now. The space around her was clear and she could breathe again. She gasped and coughed, and shook crud from her wings. Trish was coughing and moaning too, and woke up enough to wail and wrap her arms around Mirta's neck. Half strangled, Mirta tried, "Can you transform? Well then hold on and stop squirming! We'll be all right!"

She summoned all her magic and imagined flying straight up towards the moon.

They made it. Barely.

The moment the broke out of the clouds into the calm space a strange creature was diving towards them. It took Mirta a moment to recognize Alice, her wings shifted into dragon wings.

"Mirta! Are you all right?"

Mirta was not. Her wings hurt from flying and her arms hurt from carrying Trish, and everything else hurt because she was just so tired. "Is everyone else..."

"We're fine. Here, give her to me."

Trish was still not awake enough to fly on her own, and Mirta gratefully passed her over. The floating platform came into view and Katy and Priscilla rushed out to grab Mirta and pull her to safety.

"Are you ok?"

"You dragged that kid back up with you?"

Mirta landed on the platform, her wings vanished and she collapsed sideways across the seats. "She weighed a ton... is she all right?"

Sirens wailed and a minute later an ambulance parked by the platform. The medical team passed out strange flowers with healing perfume. Mirta propped hers over her face and closed her eyes. A few minutes later she felt a diagnostic spell sweep over her body. She opened her eyes to see a woman dressed as a doctor.

"Am I all right?"

"No serious damage. You strained most of your flight muscles, which I'm sure you already know, and your lungs are mildly burned from breathing bad air. It could have been much worse. I prescribe hot baths, a few minor healing spells, and no strenuous exercise for a week."

"Ok. Is Trish all right?"

"She'll be fine. You were the worst injury today."

Mirta closed her eyes again until a few minutes and the promised healing spells gave her enough energy to remember the other important question, "...guys, what _happened_?"

"A whale." Said Priscilla. "It smacked its tail right next to us, the wind blew everyone around. We were busy keeping the rest of the group from falling towards Linphea."

Mirta got up and looked around. Priscilla and Katy were hovering over her worriedly, Katy's tail still fluffed up with fear. Alice was talking to the other girl from Beta, who looked pretty upset that her friend had been hurt. Zendy fluttered next to them. The police had arrived too, and some people who were flying up to look into the clouds.

Someone was missing. "Where's Loli?"

"She was just here."

They found Lolina sitting behind some seats, curled into a ball with her knees up to her chest and her face hidden.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Mirta asked in alarm.

Lolina shook her head and tried to shoo them away without actually looking up. "I'm... I blew it. I failed!"

Mirta didn't get it, but Priscilla gasped and waved urgently to their friends. Katy and Alice came over, "Loli, what's going on?"

"My enchanitx!" Lolina said in a muffled wail, "Some stupid beta, how am I supposed to know what realm she's from?"

Oh.

"You still don't know..." Alice began.

"I know!"

Mirta shook her head, "You couldn't have come after us, you'd have gotten pulled in too!"

"I could've got close enough to pull you up. I could have. But I was too scared and now I missed my chance..."

Alice nudged her friends away a little bit. "Let's... I'll call Miss Faragonda."

Mirta had an awful thought and couldn't stop herself. "Did I mess it up? Rescue her person?"

"I don't think it works that way. The magic would know you'd be there." Katy said.

Alice turned away and tucked her head down, talking to someone at Alfea. After a few minutes she passed the phone down to Lolina.

"Miss F says Loli might get another chance. That happens sometimes. So don't lose hope."

Priscilla yelped, "I gotta call Mom, she'll see this on the news!"

Mirta hadn't brought her phone; it was back in the hotel room. She suddenly wanted to talk to her parents too, not that there was really anything to say. Just a close call.

The platform landed and everyone went their separate ways. The girls went to their hotel, where they all called their families, and then to Priscilla's house. Her mother had made a delicious dinner and, because they'd had such a bad day, gotten a huge chocolate cake. Then Priscilla mentioned that there was a hot spring nearby where you could lounge around in the water until midnight. That seemed like a great idea, so that's what they did.


	16. Chapter 16

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 16

There was a crowd of people waiting in the hotel lobby. The girls were huddled behind a door, wondering if there was a way they could get out to catch their ship without talking to anybody. Priscilla peered around the door. "There's the guy from the tour and those two Betas and their teacher out there too."

"This is your planet, can't you ask the building to grow a back door or something?" Katy asked from the floor; she'd changed to cat form for better hiding, though she'd have to change back to carry her suitcase.

Alice looked at her friends and sighed. "It would be rude to sneak out. They want to talk to us." Her pixie swung the door open.

The man from the tour had an official apology—nothing like that ever happened before, very sorry, full refund sent to your headmistress.

One of Trish's teachers had shown up, a cheerfully round woman with a pixie of her own on her shoulder. She shook Mirta's hand and said, "Thank you so much for helping my student. We're all very grateful."

Mirta was embarrassed, and thinking the teacher's black and purple lacy dress was wonderful, and couldn't think of a thing to say.

Trish saved her by muttering, "I have to be thankful to a _witch_? This is so _embarrassing_!"

The teacher put a hand to her own forehead in horror.

Mirta was still achy and tired and not feeling very patient. She grinned. "Yep, you have to be thankful."

Priscilla added, "We could still throw you back!" before Zendy smacked her.

"This will be a valuable learning experience for the two of them I'm sure." The teacher said dryly. Her pixie was giggling. Woman and pixie steered their students away before anyone could say anything else.

The reporters just wanted some quotes for the front page. Mirta gave them some, "Talk to my friends, they saved more people than I did, I just saved one fairy... no I don't know why the whale hit us, I don't think it even knew we were there... yeah it was really scary..."

Talking to reporters was really scary too, and Mirta was relieved when Zendy started flying around saying they were due at the port in half an hour.

The bug-bus gave them a free ride. As they boarded the dimension ship Katy looked down at the green city and said, "Maybe we can come back for a normal vacation sometime."

"Yeah. It's such a pretty world."

Possibly because of their celebrity status, or maybe because nobody else wanted to take the mid-morning ship, the girls had quite a large section of seats to themselves. Mirta leaned her seat all the way back and squirmed, trying to find a comfortable position. After yesterday's adventure all her flying muscles ached, which meant her entire back since her wings were hidden.

Lolina was worse though. She hadn't said a word all day, or cracked a smile. There probably wasn't anything they could do to help her either.

Priscilla said, 'Alice, remind me why your parents invited us over? It's all scrambled in my brain after all this."

"Witches are stealing our horses. At least, our horses are going missing near the mountains, and a witch family owns the ranch on the other side. Maybe Mirta can talk to them?"

Mirta shrugged, "I could try. But if these witches are thieves they wouldn't tell a stranger just because I'm a witch too."

"Maybe if you had a good cover story! Like... I don't know, but I could pretend to be your pet cat and sneak around."

Lolina spoke, without looking at anyone, "Don't flying horses have magical hair? You could say you need some for an emergency potion."

"That could work! Good idea."

Katy looked at Lolina and fluffed with annoyance, "You're not dead! You're still here, you're still a fairy, and we still need you! So snap out of it!"

"Katy..." Alice murmured.

"I failed my enchantix, that's not nothing!"

"It's not everything either." Katy growled back.

Mirta wasn't sure this was a good idea, maybe they should give Loli more time.

Priscilla added, "I wouldn't have done it either."

Mirta almost said, 'me too.' but didn't. She'd fallen in. But if she'd had a choice- could she have put her life in danger, if she'd had time to think about it? But could she have watched a person sink out of sight without trying to help? She didn't know, and thinking about it made her stomach feel queasy. Katy, Alice and Priscilla looked like they were thinking the same, and also feeling queasy.

"Selene would've." Lolina said.

"Yeah well, Selene's brave."

Alice shook her head, "Selene's brave about putting her body in danger, but there are lots of kinds of bravery. Other things are harder for her."

"Like falling for the totally wrong guy. What a nightmare!" Priscilla said.

Having feelings for someone you couldn't trust would be just about the worst, I think." Mirta said.

"I think it'd be worse to lose all the future we're making with all this work and school and stuff to get great lives later." Katy said, "I'd rather get hurt than miss my chance to be a great fairy and get an exciting job."

Alice shook her head, her long hair swinging, "But if it went wrong and you never got back... I would've failed because I'd be too scared I'd never see my parents or you guys or Jared again."

"You'd regret it. But if I get another chance I won't blow it."

"Well it probably won't happen this soon, so let's just have fun taking care of these witches and riding the flying horses! We can ride them, right?"

"Of course. They like giving rides."

Mirta was looking out the window at the swirl of interdimensional space, with nothing to add to the conversation. She was feeling helpless, and a little bit guilty because her friends were scared and she didn't have to be scared. It wasn't fair.

Well—she did owe her patron spirit a really, really big favor. A saving-your-life quality favor. It hadn't decided what it wanted yet, and Mirta couldn't follow its thoughts enough to even guess what it was considering. It would be a task bigger than just talking to the city council...

Mirta got out her notebook, thinking she'd start a letter to Orion. She'd told him about the dance, and only a little about the fact that she'd had a date for the dance. It felt a little weird telling one guy friend about another guy friend, even though she'd mentioned guys from Witches' Sphere before and _that_ hadn't felt weird, so it didn't make any sense. Sense or not... it felt weird.

_Well you wanted to hear about everything. So. I'm fine, but I almost really, really wasn't._

_ I'll tell the story in order. First, Linphea is beautiful. I hope you can visit it sometime._

When the ship's doors opened and fresh air flooded in it seemed to wake everybody up. Alice jumped up and pulled Lolina after her. Everyone grabbed their bags and hurried out to see the new world. The ship had landed outdoors, on a circle of smooth gray stones. A path of more stones led to a low wooden building. The air was thin and cool; it felt like they were high up. They were on a wide plain with mountains in the distance.

Mirta's wings stirred, in whatever space they stayed when they weren't out. It would hurt too much to fly right now, but her wings wanted to taste this air.

"Dad!" Alice yelled.

A man with the same twilight-blue hair as Alice's stood up on the seat of a wagon and waved to them. His horse had long feathered wings folded against its sides over the harness.

Alice hugged her father and introduced everybody. Lolina and Katy said hello to the horse, Priscilla pulled up some grass and the horse nibbled it politely. The horse was pale gray, with brown eyes and a pink mouth. Its wings were darker gray than its fur. The feathers were longer than Mirta's arm. Its mane was short and stiff, not long like the mane on a normal horse.

"She's so pretty!" Lolina was smiling.

Mirta agreed. Pretty. And big. It stretched its graceful head over to sniff Mirta's hair, then Priscilla's. Maybe it liked the red color.

"Come on guys, get in."

They heaved up the luggage and got up into the back of the wagon.

The ride was beautiful. This realm was all low-growing bushes and tall thin trees with bare trunks that went up high and only them puffed out clouds of whispering needles. The sky was pale, almost gray-blue and looked somehow farther off. There were only a few distant building, and equally distant herds of grazing animal—cows or sheep, but too far away to make sure. The road wound under the trees and out again. It was very quiet, the whole world was quiet, even though Alice and her father were talking and Katy occasionally pointed and mentioned something: a rabbit, the mountains slowly coming into view, a brown snake, the flying horses skimming over the trees.

The ranch was a series of low wooden buildings. There were no fences of course, not even for the sheep that wandered around. Half a dozen ranch hands, men and women, waved when the wagon came through. Alice's mother came running out of the house and there were more hugs.

They were given two rooms upstairs, and Alice stayed in her old room. Mirta got a peek inside—Alice's posters were all artistic, and her old toys were arranged on shelves. Alice's mother Sala had lunch ready, some kind of cold soup that was delicious. Then they went out to see the horses.

The winged horses were coming back for their evening feeding, nickering and jostling as they made for the troughs of oats. They were all in colors of gray and white, with spots of pale-on-pale. The adults were huge, bigger than normal horses. They looked smaller in the sky, but here on the ground they loomed.

Alice had given her friends carrots, which may have been a mistake since they were immediately mobbed by the foals.

Lolina and Katy squealed in unison, and Mirta almost did too. The babies were _so_ cute! They were all spindly legs and short wings and stubby tails slapping at each other. Mirta snapped her carrot into pieces and handed it out, talking nonsense baby talk.

Alice grinned, then yelped as a foal nibbled the end of her long hair. "They like their necks scratched, like this."

Indeed, the babies nudged up under their hands like Hexen demanding to be petted. They crowded around the girls. Mirta did a mane-count: twelve. "How many horses do you have here?"

"About a hundred total. They're all marked—magical brand that lets us know where they are."

"Um, they don't bite do they?" Katy asked nervously.

Alice giggled, "Your hair maybe. They're smarter than normal horses, they won't bite you or step on you or throw you off. Unless it's on purpose."

"Huh. My realm doesn't have horses. Those big ones are big." Katy made a face, as if she were working hard to keep her tail from appearing and lashing with nervousness.

Priscilla asked, "So if you have a spell, how are the horses getting lost?"

"They just vanish, the spell too. Could a witch cancel it?"

Mirta opened her magical senses. The foals were already marked so she could see the spell, the shape of it in her head. "I think I could, but it would take a while."

They'd run out of carrots, and the foals were getting tired of pats and starting to wander back to their mothers. Alice led the girls through the stable. There was a lot more stuff in here than Mirta had expected—whole rooms full of barrels of grain, tack and harness, a horse-wash, and a room full of potions and ingredients for making medicine.

"Why is there even a stable? They can live outside too, right?" Priscilla asked.

"We train them—my family does—they fly for kings and queens. They have to get used to people, and living inside, and eating better food. The wild ones graze on the tops of the trees. The top needles are the only part that's really nutritious, that's why most of the native wildlife can fly. Even the sheep, well, they were made by magic."

Lolina asked a more immediate question: "Who mucks out all the muck?"

"Everyone. The stablehands of course but also Mom, Dad, me, my guests..." Alice grinned a little grin as her friends made sounds of dismay. "All right, you don't have to. But you can volunteer if you want. Who's ever ridden before?"

Mirta raised her hand, "On the ground." Priscilla and Lolina nodded. Katy said, "Once..."

"Want to now?"

"Of course we do!"

But they couldn't. Not right away anyway. First they had to get the right clothes and the right boots, which was apparently very important. There were a bunch of secondhand boots around so they tried them on and that took a while. Alice's parents had picked out four very gentle horses for the guests. They were all graceful gray mares, and looked pretty much the same like they might be sisters.

"Flying horses only come in one color huh?" Katy asked.

"We learned that in Professor Palladium's lecture last year. I think we did." Mirta said.

"Yep, only one color. They're all called 'Silver' too, so their new owners can name them."

"Well that's easy to remember!"

Then they had to learn how to put saddles on their horses, and the little skimpy bridles they wore. Mirta decided these horses must be smarter than ground horses, the same way Hexen was smarter than normal cats.

"She doesn't mind does she?" Katy asked, "I mean, I'd mind if some heavy person wanted to ride on me!"

"Nah, they're horses, giving rides is what it's all about if you're a horse. Besides, then they get treats." Alice said.

They led their mounts outside. The horses nickered to each other and fluffed their wings excitedly. The wings attached just in front of the saddle band and, fully extended, would be longer than Mirta was tall.

"They're not using magic are they?"

"Nope, just evolution. They really can fly." Alice's horse was a big, slate-gray stallion almost the color of her hair. She swung onto his back without effort.

For Mirta it took a lot of effort. But then she was up, higher off the ground than usual and trying to remember how to get her feet into the stirrups. She hadn't been on a horse since coming to Cloud Tower, but her legs eventually remembered where to go. Lolina and Priscilla looked equally comfortable. Katy was clinging to the front of her saddle, hair fluffed up with nervousness.

Zendy flew down to sit in Katy's lap. "I can speak horse and she says she's not going to dump you off."

"Thanks. Useful pixie."

"And sit up!" Zendy added. The pixie kept giving Katy advice as they all walked around the field outside the stable. After a few minutes Alice signaled her horse somehow and he began to run, the four mares following him. Then they all opened their wings and surged into the air.

Mirta hung on for dear life. Every beat of the horse's wings caused them to surge up and then back with a stomach-lurching drop. Her brain knew she was safe but her guts insisted they were going to fall any second and her wings still hurt and she wasn't sure how well she could fly...

But she took deep breaths and focused on the world around her and began to feel better. The others were looking just as freaked; Katy and Lolina had their wings out just in case. Alice wasn't holding on at all, even to the reins. Her darker stallion circled the other horses, checking up on them. Mirta managed a wave and a smile. Now that she was getting used to it, the motion of flight had a rhythm you could lean into and feel more comfortable. The horse certainly didn't seem to be having any trouble. And the view was breathtaking. Wide, empty fields speckled with groves of trees stretched as far as she could see. Riderless horses hovered to graze on the treetops below them while above there were only wispy clouds. Just ahead, a gray mountain loomed out of the fields.

Priscilla's voice, delivered by magic to be heard over the wind, said, "So where do these thieving witches live?"

Alice replied the same way, "The other side of the mountain. Want to fly over and look around?"

Katy gave a thumbs-up and Lolina said, 'let's go!"

The mountain was big enough that they went around it instead of over the peak. It was a lone spire of rock, the chain it had once been part of had weathered away to low gray hills.

"That's called the Drakkenridge." Alice said, "It's some kind of enchanted granite so hard it can't be broken. Every so often someone tries to quarry it but even blasting doesn't work."

They coasted around the mountain, the horses sliding down the thermals just as a fairy would on her own wings. There was another ranch on the other side, a few buildings with gardens around a well. This ranch had fences, with prickly magic on them because the sheep were bobbing weightlessly a few inches above the ground.

Mirta cast a little charm to carry her voice to her friends, "I could go down and talk to them, if there's a place we can land out of sight."

Alice pointed and led the way down. They landed in an empty, boulder-strewn field behind a screen of trees. Everyone dismounted, most of them squirming and rubbing their legs. Keeping your seat while flying involved an unexpected number of muscles, which ached from unaccustomed use.

Mirta transformed her boots into something for walking instead of for hanging onto stirrups. Her clothes were already appropriately witchy; not something Icy would wear, but there was a character from a witch cartoon on her shirt. "Ok, I'm going to go say hello."

"You can do that? Isn't it rude?" Lolina asked.

Mirta shrugged. She didn't actually _want_ to go talk to people she didn't know. She was shy. It would be embarrassing. "Well we have to investigate and we're right here so... hang on, it was your idea!"

"I didn't realize we'd be in the middle of nowhere. Will people believe you were just going past?"

"They'll believe I snuck away from a field trip to get forbidden potion ingredients."

"I'd believe a witch would do that." Katy grinned.

"Zia once convinced Shilly to—" Mirta started, then realized if she took time to tell the story she'd definitely lose her nerve. "I'll tell you guys later."

"Yay, witch gossip! I'll look forward to it." Lolina teased.

Mirta laughed and waved and headed down the path, happy that Lolina was feeling better enough to be silly.

The witches' ranch had lots of floating sheep floating back and forth while a small dog the same shape and color as a sheep watched them. There was a caravan parked next to the house, and a well in the middle of the courtyard. Mirta took a deep breath and smelled the herb garden over the inescapable smell of sheep. The dog showed more interest in Mirta than in the sheep; he barked once and came over to sniff her legs and determine whether to bark some more.

The top half of the house door opened and a young boy leaned out. He saw Mirta, turned away, and hollered, "Mo-om, someone's here!"

Mirta laughed. "Hi."

He disappeared and was replaced by a smaller boy, then by their mother. "Hello! Did you come to shop? I have several lambs for sale."

Mirta's brain presented a delightful vision of releasing a floating sheep at Alfea, or giving one to Lucy or sending one to her mother... no. She was here to investigate. "Oh, I can't, I have no place to keep it. What I was wondering, are those your flying horses around the mountain? And could I buy a couple of their hairs? I keep falling behind my group, I just know everyone else in the class is using speed charms!"

The witch chuckled, "Sorry, they belong to the other ranch. You could ask the fairies over there for some."

Mirta drooped in pretend disappointment. She'd been 'listening around' with her magic and couldn't feel a hint of the branding spell. No smell of horses either, assuming she could have smelled them over the sheep. She'd honestly expected to find the stolen horses here but... she wasn't.

"But since you're here, want to see what else we sell?" Assuming the answer, the woman came outside and went to the caravan. The whole side of it swung down, revealing a display of knitted hats and scarves. Mirta was having a nice time, and only lying about which school it was that she went to, so she hung around and chatted and let herself be talked into buying a floppy green hat.

And somehow the conversation got back around to, "...you probably shouldn't really talk to the fairies—they're not big fans of witches. Accused my family of stealing from them! Perhaps they've been stealing our sheep and wanted to divert suspicion, though I can't see why."

"Your sheep have been going missing?" Mirta asked, giving the sheeplike dog a scratch between the ears.

"Nearly a dozen, my oldest, going bald with age so I can't imagine why anyone would want them. But you shouldn't have to hear my worries! Go back to your class and enjoy your school trip."

Mirta nodded, "Thanks! And this is a great hat!" She pulled it down over her ears and headed back up the path. A lamb bounded after her until the dog rounded it up.

By the time she rejoined her friends Mirta was walking more slowly and thinking. The thing was...

"The thing is, I don't think they did it."

"Huh?"

"They didn't?"

"I don't think so. They seem nice, I couldn't detect your branding spell anywhere, and the lady said some of their sheep had disappeared too."

Katy swiped the hat and put it on.

"Hey! My hat!"

"This is a super ugly hat." Katy said admiringly. "I like it."

Alice looked thoughtful and swung up onto her stallion's back. "let's go home before someone sees us. We can talk more there."

The horses seemed to understand, and each sidled up to her rider. Mirta put her foot in the stirrup and flicked her wings out, just for a second, so she weighed practically nothing when she boosted herself up.

Back home, they had to brush their horses and feed them. Then they sat around the living room to talk. It was a nice room, all wood panel and blue velvet chairs. The house smelled like horses and some kind of cinnamony incense.

Mirta reclaimed her hat and plopped it on her head. "I met a witch who lives on that ranch, the mother of the family I guess. She said they've lost a dozen of those floating sheep lately. I didn't see any sign of horses."

"You think someone's stealing from both of us?" Alice asked.

Mirta nodded.

Priscilla asked, "Does anyone else even live around here?"

Katy stretched and changed to her cat form to finish the stretch.

"There are other farms, mostly cows and sheep, but none with big stables where you could hide horses. Most everyone nearby works for us, anyway!"

"Maybe one of them is secretly a bad guy." Lolina suggested.

Alice's eyebrows drew together in worry, "Maybe... it's hard to believe. We've known everyone forever. And Mirta met the only witches around."

"People don't have to be witches to be thieves."

"I know that. But the witches are the only people who aren't friends of the family so it's natural to suspect them. I don't know what else to do." Alice looked at her friends for help.

"Do some divination." Lolina suggested.

"Inspect the scene of the crime, like Nancy Brew!" Priscilla offered.

Katy rolled on her back and meowed. Mirta shrugged. They had no ideas.

Alice's mother Sala came in, with Zendy riding on her shoulder. Alice held out her arms and gathered her pixie in a hug. "We didn't find any evidence, Mom. I think we're on the wrong track."

"Hmm. How strange. I'm glad we don't have to suspect the neighbors, but I can't imagine what else it could be..." Sala shot a look at Mirta. Maybe she did want to suspect the neighbors.

Alice got up and went to lean against her mother affectionately. Mother, daughter and pixie. "We'll look around some more tomorrow Mom. We'll figure it out."

Morning was bright and clear, warmer than yesterday. Mirta went outside and stood in the sunlight, finger-combing her hair and redoing her wrap with the beads. She'd worn the style since elementary school so her hands knew how to do it.

Zendy fluttered out the window and sat down on a fencepost. "This realm is beautiful in the morning! Everything looks so far off."

"Must be different from the pixie village."

"The pixie village is very pretty—and boring!"

Mirta laughed. That was unexpected! "Boring?"

"Helping keep the universe in balance doesn't involve a lot of adventure."

"I wonder if we'll get any adventure today. We have a mystery with no suspects. Does your pixie magic sense anything?"

Zendy frowned and fluttered her tiny wings. "I sense trouble ahead. Danger. But that's not very helpful since I can't tell what kind."

the others came outside in time to hear that. Katy said, "Danger? Not what I wanted to hear! Can't you predict we'll solve the mystery and spend the next few days lounging around?"

"Sorry, I only do bad news."

Alice giggled and Zendy flew to dance around her, sparkling happily despite the prediction of gloom.

"Do we have a plan?" Mirta asked.

"I thought we could fly around where the missing horses were last seen and see if we find anything. If not, we'll throw some magic at the problem."

Mirta nodded, "Sounds good to me, except for the danger part."

"Maybe I'm wrong."

While they walked around to the stable Alice said, "Mirta, Zendy, after you guys went outside one of the stablehands came in—six cows disappeared from his farm overnight. He'll be fine since he has the job here too, but lots of people around here depend on their livestock for money to live on. We need to catch this thief before someone really suffers."

Mirta was starting to get a bad feeling, but no danger threatened as they found their horses, all hanging around near the stable hoping for more pats and treats. Mirta offered apple pieces to her 'Silver' and the mare was happy to be saddled. They thundered into the air and this time was less scary and more exciting. Katy whooped happily and her mount whinnied in agreement.

The gray mountain loomed before them. It was strange, the bare stone peak in the middle of the field. The stone, warmed by the sun, made a nice updraft. The horses spread their wings and drifted. They landed on one of the low gray hills of the ridge. Other horses were flying nearby, chasing each other through the air.

"They're having fun."

"This is probably where they disappeared from." Alice said, "They really like this place. It's strange, when they get old or sick they always try to come here. Whenever the vet comes she has to trek out here."

"What's around?" Priscilla asked.

Alice pointed in different directions, "Home. The witch ranch. Small sheep and cow farms. The main road to the city is that way. Someone could've..."

Zendy, sitting on Alice's saddle, looked up suddenly. The ground shuddered and the horses stamped and sidled. The girls grabbed for their reins, automatically saying calming things.

A shadow fell over them. Lolina screamed. The horses panicked. Mirta was shoved back and fell on her bottom on the stone. She looked up.

It was a dragon. It loomed over them, spread wings blocking the light. It reached out and plucked a winged horse from the air.

Alice shrieked with rage and lit up. Her wings whipped out a lot farther than normal, her shriek dropped to a roar and there was a smaller blue dragon crouched on the ground. Alice launched herself into the air.

Katy poked Mirta, "Get up! Transform! We have to help her!"

"What can _we_ do?" Mirta squeaked, but she opened her wings and gathered handfuls of magic.

Alice wasn't doing too badly. The real dragon was bigger than a house, coiled around the top of the mountain. Alice's dragon form was the size of a small shed, but she darted around throwing magic and keeping out of reach. The dragon dropped its prey and the horse fluttered clumsily to the ground and fled.

Mirta took off, joining the fairies in the air. She summoned her gloomix and the wind warned her: don't fight that; it's stronger than you.

Priscilla yelled, "Alice! Back off!"

Alice probably didn't hear, but she slowed down and spread her wings to glide backward. She was probably getting tired. The dragon was watching her. In addition to being huge it was dull gold in color, with a pointed head on a long snakey neck. It would have been beautiful if it hadn't been going to eat them.

"Now what?" Katy whispered.

"We can't attack it!"

"Well we _could_..."

"I can't!"

The dragon reached out and lazily grabbed Alice in one huge clawed hand. It drew her close to its head and looked at her. Alice screeched and flung spells at the claws wrapped around her. Then dragon and captive pulled back and disappeared behind the peak.

Mirta and the fairies dived after it, Mirta at least trying to think what to do. Red Fountain graduates could fight dragons, paladins could fight dragons, but she didn't think her friends could fight a dragon.

There was a cave that had definitely not been there before. It should have been dark but a muted glow spilled out. They landed and looked inside.

The dragon was sitting hunched up on a pile of treasure that filled half the cave. On the one visible bit of bare floor, Alice collapsed back into human form but managed to stay on her feet. Zendy made a beeline for her, chirping worriedly.

"I'm all right!" Alice called, "I'm not hurt, so nobody do anything crazy!"

The dragon lowered its head and glowing orange eyes watched the fairies with interest. Its head, on level with them, was as high as Mirta was tall, and the teeth that showed were a foot long. It smelled of smoke and hot metal and something you wanted to be far away from.

Nobody else seemed able to speak so Mirta took a breath and tried, "Hello, Sir Dragon. We're students from Alfea college and friends of the local people. Could you tell us what you're doing here?"

The dragon spoke. Its voice was deep and rumbly, and its breath smelled like a forge. "I am here because this is my home. I have always been here. What are you little mammals doing here?"

It didn't sound angry, Mirta thought. Hoped. It was hard to tell.

Lolina squeaked, "It talks!"

Alice took a deep breath and took back the conversation. "This is our home too. My family and our neighbors have lived here for five hundred years, raising animals to make our living. We use the land well, neither overgrazing it or letting it grow wild. The people of this realm belong here."

Alice was magnificent, standing tall with her pixie hovering in front of her. She didn't even look scared. The dragon stretched its head down towards her. From nose to ears it was longer than Alice was tall. She stiffened and pushed Zendy behind her. Priscilla's magic flared, but Katy grabbed her before she did anything.

"You make a beautiful dragon."

"Um, thank you." Alice said nervously, easing back from The giant head. "It's fairy magic. We're fairies, we use our magic to help people."

A deep earthquakey chuckle, "The people called for help, for something was taking 'their' beasts? The old ones, the sick ones, that disappeared."

Alice blinked. "Yes... you mean..." She managed not to say the rest, but she was thinking it and Mirta was too. Did the flying horses' ancestors, when they got old and weak, come to offer themselves to the dragon? Did the modern ones somehow remember?

The dragon didn't explain, and there was no answer to be read in its scaled face.

Alice took a deep breath, "Then you do a valuable service to our animals. But you can't steal from the people. We'll have to set up some kind of trade, so nobody comes after you."

The dragon tipped its head back and blew a line of fire across the ceiling. Stone melted and cooled again as glass. Lolina covered her mouth to muffle a shriek. Mirta stumbled back, afraid her eyebrows would ignite.

Alice hadn't moved. "If you do that, then a few hundred dragonslayers from Red Fountain school will come after you. And if you roast _them_ the navy will put a ship in orbit above this mountain and melt it off the map. Let's... actually talk, you can make a deal with the people, protect us from the cloud giants next time they come down the mountain or something, and humans could—send food, and set you up with a spell so you can talk to the other intelligent dragons. There are only a few still alive..."

"And you. You stay."

Alice swayed on her feet. Zendy's magic sparked but Alice grabbed her pixie.

"Alice you can't..." Priscilla began.

"No, it makes sense." Alice said quickly, "Someone needs to do diplomacy, or everyone in town is going to be in danger! That's why dragons capture princesses anyway. And you—you must swear not to hurt me, and to let me have everything I need to live as a human. And I won't live here forever. One year."

The dragon's molten eyes were half-closed, smugly. It said, "I swear I will work with you to learn to live peacefully with these humans. And I will not let you come to harm."

It hardly made sense. It hardly registered that Alice was agreeing to stay. Then she was pushing them towards the mouth of the cave saying, "I'll be fine, I'll call you. Now get out of here before he notices you and wants two captive princesses!"

"They are not interesting. Even the little witch who still has her wings."

Mirta couldn't ask. Her courage had run out. She fled with her friends.

It was a long, silent flight back, and Alice's mother was silent when she met them. Nobody really talked until they were gathered around the phone with Miss Faragonda.

"So that's it? We just come back without Alice and Zendy? Or are we supposed to slay the dragon?"

"We can't. First because, well, we can't, and second it's an intelligent being and third it's an endangered species." Priscilla said, being the grouchy voice of reason.

The hologram of Miss Faragonda said, "I know this looks like defeat, but it may be a very good thing!"

"Yeah?" Katy asked.

"Draco Nobilis are known for keeping their word; Alice is quite safe. And her sacrifice prevented the disasters that would have befallen all life in the area if people had tried to fight the dragon."

Katy looked thoughtful, "'Sacrifice' huh? You think..?"

"Almost certainly. I'd like you girls to help Alice settle in, then come home on schedule. This has been a difficult trip but you're handling it wonderfully." Miss Faragonda sounded sincere. Mirta felt her spirits lighten.

They ended the call; Miss F was going to call Alice back. Priscilla and Lolina were repacking the stuff Alice had brought from Alfea. Her parents were downstairs packing a big crate with pillows and blankets and everything you'd need to live in a cave.

"You think we should go down and help?" Mirta asked.

"They're pretty upset. You really think Alice is all right?"

Mirta flopped back on her bed and said to the ceiling, "Orion asked me to send him this fat book on dragons, and I read part of it before I mailed it. Miss F's right, they're supposed to be honest. And smart, smart enough to understand that he needs her. he's probably a thousand years old."

"Hang on, it's been asleep in that mountain since, what, before the realm was colonized?"

"Sure, maybe."

"What does it want?" Priscilla asked.

"Uh, the usual dragon stuff. Food, treasure... more treasure?"

"What do they do with all that gold?"

"Nothing, when'd you ever see a dragon go to a shop?" Katy giggled.

"I think they sleep on it." Mirta offered.

Lolina said, "But what about school, how's Alice going to graduate? And what about her and Jared? Is this the 'great sacrifice' part?"

"I guess." Mirta said, still to the ceiling. She sat up when her phone went off. It was a video file from Vecta. She set the phone to hologram and hit play.

The video was of Hexen, under a table, having a great time catching ribbons that descended around him. The view pulled back to show a grinning Francis lying flat on top of the table dangling ribbons from both hands. In the background several fairies including Musa and Galatea were looking over to watch the show and Comfrey slouched in a chair.

"Cat's having fun." Katy said, "Isn't that one of the girls we rescued from the swamp? She doesn't look so good."

She was right. The hologram wasn't blurry enough to conceal the fairy's sunken cheeks. Mirta felt a flicker of general worry, because Alfea taught you that you should worry about everyone, but Alfea had a good infirmary, Comfrey could talk to Nurse Ofelia. Mirta sent back a message to Vecta, "Thanks- glad Hex is doing well."

Lolina said, "The robot fairy? You're friends with her?"

Mirta made a face but didn't feel like discussing it right then. "Yeah, I like her. She's not like anybody else."

Priscilla adjusted an imaginary hat and imitated Miss DuFour, "Making assumptions about people because of their body type is tremendously rude."

"I wasn't assuming, I was just surprised Mirta was friends with a first-year."

This might have turned into some kind of fight between depressed fairies but Priscilla glanced out the window and gasped, "You guys, look!"

They crowded around. Outside, soft green lights drifted in the air. Moths. Katy turned off the room light so they could see better. There were thousands of them, drifting across the fields. The night went still and the stars got brighter.

Katy squeaked and pointed.

It was Alice, her wide wings shining like light through stained glass. A few of the moths were playing in the fringe of her long hair. She drifted closer, starlight sparkling on her new clothes, which were made of blue jewels and tiny scales. She waved, then tilted her wings and lifted away into the sky.


	17. Chapter 17

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 17

There was a heap of mail on Mirta's desk when she got back, mostly stuff from her teachers but there was a reply from Orion already.

_Good grief! I see what you mean about the two scariest things that ever happened to you. My worst adventure—well, you were there for it so here's my second-worst, which doesn't even come close but you asked for stories._

_ I was seven and we were investigating this tomb that they wouldn't let me go into. Being seven, I was sure that if I could only get in I'd find a pile of treasure. So while everybody was at dinner I sneaked into the tomb. There was this row of suits of armor and when I went past they CAME TO LIFE and came after me. These huge metal things with nothing inside, stomping right at me. I screamed my head off, and someone finally heard and came to my rescue. Actually they'd already fixed the spell on the armors to stop them attacking, they were just crashing around randomly more likely to hit the walls than hurt me but even today standing suits of armor still give me the creeps._

_ (The new armors though, the ones that shrink into a bracelet? I want one of those!)_

_ I have news—the Magix museum is trying to scout mom to be their local expert and translate things people bring back. And Red Fountain sent a letter asking if I wanted to be an assistant teacher next year. It said they're looking for people with adventuring experience because that's harder to find than teaching experience. I guess I have that, but why Mister Saladin thinks I could actually teach anyone I don't know. Can I try out a lecture on you next letter?_

_ We're still thinking about it. There's a lot of stuff left to discover on these ruined planets, but I'm kind of ready to discover normal life in a city. Ice cream, movies, learning to drive... all year instead of just whenever we visit. I'd like to try city life, to see if I like it and try to figure out where I want to live and what I want to do with my life. I could join the Archaeologists Guild now or student teach at Red fountain and graduate from there in a few years, or just get a job like normal people. _

_ So we have to figure that out before spring. And find whatever is left to find on this depressing ocean planet! I'm beginning to think all that's left is to read about the heroic efforts that people made to survive the Demon War, and how they failed and perished. I'd rather think about the future._

_ Yours, Orion_

That was the second best thing in the heap of mail. The best thing was a short note: _Study date, Alfea library, call me? -K_ Mirta had been smiling since she saw it. Then she had Orion's letter and a note from her parents. They'd had a new catalog printed, of the potions and ingredients for sale. It was a great catalog with shiny paper and lots of pictures. Mirta wanted to take it to the witch-mart, maybe they'd be convinced to change their supplier!

Mirta finished looking through her mail and unpacked. Hexen was being totally underfoot, getting in the way of everything. He'd missed her. "Scoot, kitty, I need to open the closet! I know people petted you while I was gone..."

"Meeew!"

Mirta put down the clothes she was trying to fold and picked up the cat. That was what he'd wanted and he melted happily in her arms, purring like an engine.

"Yeah, I missed you too Hex. It's good to be back. Now, that heap needs to go down to the laundry and then it's time for lunch!"

Girl and cat, and dirty clothes, went downstairs to the big laundry machines. Mirta loaded her clothes and went to grab food while the washer did its thing. It was Saturday so the cafeteria was mostly empty; everyone was off in the city having fun.

Vecta and Comfrey were sitting at one of the tables, doing something that involved mixing different kinds of sodas. The metal-haired fairy listened skeptically as her friend tried to explain something. They both looked up when Mirta went past, and Comfrey stopped talking suddenly. She didn't look very healthy today either; her face was pale and while she was clearly having fun she wasn't moving very fast.

Mirta got a sandwich and a can of catfood for Hexen. She was going to sit by herself but Vecta waved her over. Mirta greeted them with a smile, "Hey guys, how's it going? Potions homework?"

Vecta nodded. "The mixing of different liquids. It is quite confusing, so we are practicing on inactive compounds."

"Always a good idea." Mirta said, trying to think of a polite way to ask Comfrey if she was all right or if it would help to ask Selene for some fairy dust. But Comfrey wasn't looking down at her notebook shyly—up until Hexen jumped onto the table.

"Um, what is that?"

"Felis cattus, magically altered, or so I theorize."

"He's my cat. He wants whatever was in your sandwich."

There were only crusts left. Comfrey solemnly pulled apart the bread and let Hexen lick the filling.

Vecta said, "We were informed, inaccurately I suspect, that this creature is a homunculus in animal form."

"What? Hang on, who said that!" Mirta yelped. "Oleana?"

Two solemn nods.

"Well he isn't. He's a normal cat and Oleana better not try to mess with him!"

Vecta murmured something about normal protective pet-owner responses. The pet in question decided he liked Comfrey, and headbutted her hand affectionately. Comfrey took a moment to realize he wanted his head scratched then smiled faintly and delivered the demanded pats.

"You're from Linphea right?" Mirta asked, "We were just there—not a lot of cats around."

"I think bugs are cuter." Comfrey said shyly, "Mammals are so fuzzy. It's strange."

Priscsilla appeared, lunch in hand, to agree. "Hex is kinda cute, but he can't spin his own bed!"

Hexen and Mirta both gave her looks. Comfrey giggled. Vecta just watched them, probably studying fairy behavior.

Priscilla sat down with them and said straight out, "In that video Vecta sent us, you didn't look so good. Are you all right?"

Comfrey flinched back a little and shrugged. "Nothing you can help with."

"Well then can you help me with something?"

"Like what..?"

"Getting my enchantix I hope!

Comfrey's green eyes and Vecta's silver ones went wide. Comfrey stumbled, "I couldn't, fairy dust doesn't help with things you're born with and I've seen half the doctors in this city already. I don't think you could rescue me and get your enchantix, I'm sorry."

Vecta clearly hadn't known. "Your health is bad? Are you in danger of ceasing to live?" She cried, gripping her friend's hands, the older fairies forgotten.

"No, no, I'll be all right. I just won't be able to do much running around, and no flying." Comfrey glanced at Mirta, "That's why I went into the swamp—wanted to have one adventure at least! Thanks for saving us, by the way."

"Sure." Mirta said, distracted by the sad story. No flying! To have wings but not fly, not ever, it would be terrible!

Priscilla said, "We met a doctor who does medicine without spells—weird, I know, but he might be able to do something the other doctors couldn't. At least let me introduce you."

"It's nice of you but... I don't think your doctor friend would see me. I don't have a lot of money."

"Yeah but I saved his life so he owes me. Come on, let me rent an hour of your time just in case it works." Priscilla offered a pile of coins that had probably been in the pockets of her dirty laundry.

Comfrey clearly thought these third-years were crazy. But free money was free money, even if it wasn't very much. "All right... now? Ok, I'll meet you outside." She trotted off to get her purse.

Priscilla said, "Mirta, could you get my wash?"

"Sure. You'd better call Dr. Martin and tell him you're coming."

"Yeah. Um, was I just a terrible bully?"

"A little." Mirta said, "But only if it doesn't work. Good luck."

When Priscilla had left, Vecta said, "Worry is unnecessary. There is a ninety-four percent chance of success, given the sequence of events."

Mirta smiled but didn't ask for the math on that one.

"Wow." Keith said. "And I thought _my_ school had books." He turned around and walked backwards to look at the shelves around the door.

"I hate to spoil your fun, but I think Cloud Tower has even more."

"Yeah, but would Cloud Tower let me in?"

"Not a chance. It barely lets me back in." Mirta laughed. Keith looked really happy, like he'd never seen so many books, like they were treasure.

He was beautiful when he smiled.

"So why did you want to come over?" Mirta asked. "Working on something your school doesn't have the books for?"

"Well I did want to see if your library has anything ours doesn't, but mostly I thought you'd be better company than Jess right now. He blew off two papers and now he's trying to write them both at once, and he mutters under his breath when he writes. Not peaceful just now."

Mirta smiled at that. "I see. Well, this is the stuff I was reading, you can wander the shelves and find stuff, or ask Miss Concorda, she's around here somewhere."

Keith glanced around, smiling at the other students and two teachers in the library, then looked down at Mirta's books. "Ancient history. The Demon War?"

"For my thesis. The feud between the witches and fairies goes back that far, far enough there's not a lot of history to read. This stuff's mostly just antique spell diagrams."

Keith sat down and opened the book. "No, this is..."

The sentence didn't seem to have an ending. Mirta sat down and opened another book. She'd already read all the actual history, so the library had started providing books on ancient magic. Useless books, since they were about spells nobody knew how to _do_ anymore. There was a short section about the Demon War, since it was basically a big banishing spell that required an army as one ingredient. "If it's a spell, why did they have to fight?"

"Balance." Keith said without looking up, "A spell that big would take the energy of hundreds of people, but if you sort of... give the other side something... then it'll take less energy and won't drain you dry. The magical theory teacher explained it better..."

"That makes sense." The books Mirta was reading weren't turning up any actual history, so she put the pile next to Keith and opened her Arts of Rulership homework. It was nice, the two of them working sitting together. The library silence was broken only by the quiet voices of other students. Lavigne and Kylie were studying at one of the tables, and Sandra was sitting by herself drawing. Professor Palladium and Miss DuFour had taken over a table to grade papers and play chaperone since there was a boy visiting.

Time passed. Mirta worked on an essay about different forms of government then moved on to memorizing potion ingredients. Keith was taking notes on the ancient magic books. Mirta hadn't been able to make heads or tails of them but he seemed fascinated.

After another hour Mirta was getting tired of working. Across the room Professor Palladium stood up and stretched, vanished his papers, and started a tour of the room looking over the students' work. He stopped to talk to Lavigne and Kylie, admired Sandra's picture, then wandered over to Keith and Mirta. "Heavy reading. The Demon War is college level history."

Mirta sighed, "My fault, I thought there might be something in there for my project about witches and fairies. _He_ just seems to like boring books."

Keith grinned, "I like theory."

He and the teacher introduced themselves and Palladium thanked Keith for helping with the troll.

Mirta asked, "Professor—I've read about banishing the demons, but none of the books say what demons _are._"

"They aren't anything now. They were evil spirits with incredible power. They wanted to rule a universe of slaves without magic or free will. If they'd won we'd have no art, science or civilization. But they were banished from reality and don't exist anymore."

Keith said, "Aren't there realms where demons do exist?"

"A few." the professor sighed. "In the war, a few demons managed to seal off realms for themselves where they could exist. Once such a realm is opened to the rest of the universe its demon vanishes forever."

"But until then, people might be trapped?" Mirta asked. Orion had written something about that.

"They might, but there's nothing we can do and nothing demons can do to us. Which is why demons are a college level subject—so younger students don't get upset about something that doesn't effect the real world."

"Except the people who are affected. There's no way to find those realms?"

The professor shook his head. "There's a Merlin Award waiting for whoever figures it out. But you two will have to study for it another time—dinner's in an hour and a half, and everyone must eat at their own school."

"Hint taken." Keith said, smiling and snapping his notebook closed. "Thanks for talking to us Professor."

Clouds had blown over while they were in the library, and outside the city's weather spell it was starting to rain. Mirta felt the spell shift and it started to sprinkle. Keith grinned and tipped his head back. "What a great city. You won't even get soaked in the rain."

"I miss the crazy thunderstorms back home." Mirta admitted, "But this is a wonderful city."

"Here, I want to show you something." Keith stepped up onto nothing and stood six inches off the ground. Mirta felt for the step with her foot and jumped up next to him. "So you can walk on air, but how do—whoa!"

The ground dropped away. Mirta yelped and grabbed Keith's long coat. When the rush of air ended, they were standing just under the dome of the weather spell. Above their heads raindrops flared blue as the spell shifted each drop somewhere else. Below them Alfea's pink marble and the silver roofs of the city gleamed dully.

"Wow... amazing... what are we standing on?"

"Same kind of thing we use as a shield spell. I just made it flat and big enough to stand on. Or dance on."

"You made..." Mirta began faintly, distracted by the view, by the size of the spell, by the fact that he'd made it for dancing. "You liked the dance?"

"I liked the dance. I like showing off. I like you."

For Mirta, there was a moment of breathless, heart-pounding amazement. It was like magic. Better than magic. "Yeah, I like you too." She said dumbly.

And then they were kissing. In the sparkling rain at the top of the sky.

"Whoa." Keith said, then, "Whoa—we're sinking!"

Mirta started laughing. "On the ground next time."

"So much for showing off my spell."

They'd stopped safely, still high up over Alfea. Mirta saw the glitter of the pixie pets, peeking up at them from the garden.

Over the rooftops of the rainy city an orange spark rose and darted towards them. It became visible as a human, and waved, "Hello! It's me!"

"Hi!" Mirta yelled back.

Priscilla glowed. She'd summoned a halo of fire to keep the rain off. Dancing orange light sparkled on every inch of her new outfit and wide ivy-leaf wings. She spun around, showing off, then flew down to lean her elbows on the edge of the invisible platform, kicking her legs in the air.

"It worked." Mirta said. "Is Comfrey ok?"

"A lot more ok than before! In fact, the doctor knew what the right treatment was because my wings changed. So there was some point to this dumb delayed enchantix!"

"Congratulations." Keith said.

Priscilla's expression took a turn for the teasing. "Soooo, about you two..?"

Mirta groaned.

Perfectly calmly Keith said, "We were studying. Then I decided to show off this spell I invented and I was going to ask Mirta if she wanted to be my girlfriend then you turned up."

Mirta wasn't sure she'd heard that right. She could not possibly have heard that right. But Priscilla was doing a that's-so-cute squeal, so maybe she had. "Um... yes."

"Cool. I'll call you later, maybe we can all meet up on the Thieves' Guild field trip."

"That's this week isn't it." Priscilla said, taking pity on Mirta and changing the subject, "Hey, have you guys heard from Sterling? Kimmy sent us a one-line message saying they'd be back tomorrow but that's all."

"Yeah, I got the same thing from Sterling. Who knows."

"I hope they're all right."

Keith shook his head and sort of shrugged, "Sterling's a good guy and I know he has doubts about the way his Dad runs the district but it's his _Dad_ and politics is complicated. And I've never been to Arcadia and don't really know what's going on. Maybe we'll find out more when they get home. And now _we'd _better go home."

Priscilla remembered what they were standing on, "How long can you hold this invisible floor up?"

"Long as I want." The floor started sinking again, on purpose this time.

Priscilla fluttered her new wings and pushed off, "I'm going to go show off. See you later!"

And Mirta went back to wondering if that whole 'girlfriend' thing had really happened.

"Was that ok?" Keith asked.

"Yeah. I'd rather have my friends all romantic than all curious. Um, I better go."

There was a moment of delighted awkwardness when neither of them could think of the perfect thing to say but after a few minutes they managed to stop trying and go home.

Selene and Kimmy returned the next day, finding their friends in the middle of a marathon study session for an Arts of Rulership exam and, for the people who weren't in that class, a charms exam. The floor was strewn with people, pillows, books and snacks.

"How would you protect your realm from pirates?" Lolina read off the review sheet.

"Pay 'em off." Katy said.

"Call in the navy, that's why we _have_ a navy." was Mirta's opinion.

"Get them to attack your neighbors, or just buy your people faster ships." Priscilla offered.

"Sounds good. Well, most of those ideas require money. What if your kingdom is poor?"

"Then pirates won't want to steal your stuff!"

Priscilla and Lolina started to argue about that when the door opened and Selene looked in. "Hello!"

"Hey, you're back!"

"How was Arcadia?"

Kimmy heaved their bags in and flopped down in a chair. Hexen hopped up in her lap.

"Long flight?"

"Long trip. Hi kittycat."

"What happened?"

Selene asked, "What happened to you? We met Siliciya on the way in—Alice moved in with a dragon?"

They explained, in a rush with everyone talking at once, except Lolina who still didn't want to talk about it. Katy rushed through that part as fast as possible.

"Oh sweetie!" Kimmy dumped the cat off her lap and went to hug Lolina.

"And I thought we had a rough time." Selene said, "Are you ok? I mean, of course you're not ok but are you ok?"

Lolina smiled at that. "It'll be fine. Miss Faragonda says I'll get another chance almost for sure."

"Then is Alice ok?"

Priscilla held out her phone and popped up a hologram of Alice, a message received earlier today. Alice looked a bit frazzled, which was unusual for her. She said, "I'm still not cooked yet- seems like my enchantix form is fireproof! That's good, you won't have to send me ten gallons of powdered hens' teeth. But the dragon didn't tell us everything. He has eggs. Six eggs, I guess he was babysitting them before or something, but one is going to hatch soon. Please send a fireproof baby blanket."

Priscilla closed her phone, "Professor Palladium sent her just about every book on dragons that the store had, I'm sure there's something in there about hatchlings."

"I wonder if they're cute."

"Bet they are."

"So what happened to you?"

Selene sat down, picked up a pillow and hugged it to her chest. "We saw my folks and my brothers, they're fine. Then we went topside to meet Sterling's family. He was excited, I think he really thought we'd get along. They found out where I was from and... uh..."

Kimmy flounced, swept back an imaginary fall of hair, and stuck her nose in the air. She returned to her normal body language to say, "I'm surprised Sterling turned out as decent as he is, now that I've seen where he comes from."

"We were there for some kind of society dinner, with some of the dukes from other wards. One of them actually asked about the conditions in the lower city. Sterling's father said... 'they choose to live down there; they could just save up for a place uptown.'" Selene flopped her face into the pillow.

"Hang on!" Mirta yelped, "Didn't you say your store keeps getting robbed and there's no police or port authority to make sure you actually get the stuff you order and basically it's a lawless mess people _can't_ get out of?"

"That's about it." Selene said. Kimmy nodded.

"How does the guy in charge not know that?" Priscilla asked.

"Because he lives uptown and just collects the taxes. But... Sterling isn't like that. He'll be a better ruler, at least. So, you're in Arts of Rulership, what would you do?"

"A class society is tough." Katy said.

"Democracy. No more rulers!" was Priscilla's opinion.

"Easy for you to say, Linphea's been democratic forever."

That discussion went on for a while. Mirta took notes.

For a field trip to the Thieves' Guild, you probably shouldn't wear your good jewelry. Mirta pawed through her jewelry box and separated out a set of bangles she didn't actually like. She'd won them at a faire and they were cheap metal. Maybe they'd get stolen.

It was a weekend afternoon and the students who weren't going on the field trip were still hanging around after lunch, talking and doing homework in the cafeteria. Mirta and her friends went out front and got on the bus. Professor Avalon gave a little speech about how goodness doesn't always look like you expect.

It was just a teacher speech, not very informative and Mirta didn't pay much attention. Priscilla muttered something about paladins associating with the lower classes and Kimmy said paladins were supposed to associate with everybody without prejudice.

Then magic built around them, Kadija warned, "Hold on to your lunch!" and the bus teleported. A good clean teleport so nobody actually felt like their stomachs had remained behind. The bus was now parked in a cave, with several other buses. The girls got off and joined students from Cloud Tower in the cave.

Mirta found Lucy and Shilly and a second, smaller copy of Shilly. "This is my sister Zenobia. I brought her along to be stolen."

Lucy said, "I don't think there's much call for siblings on the black market, but you never know."

Mirta laughed and introduced herself. Zenobia really did look like a smaller copy of her sister, with the same smoked-amethyst hair and determined expression.

"Well hey, who knew witches come in half size?" Selene greeted them. "Hey Lucy, hi Shilly."

Zenobia glared. "Fairies! Can I hex them?"

"Not while the teachers are watching. Later, sure!"

Selene was distracted from answering buy the arrival of the boys, and the other fairies waved and invited Lucy to walk with them if she wanted. Shilly was less invited since she didn't know the fairies well, and she'd sounded serious about the hexing later.

Keith came over and very casually put his arm around Mirta for a second, hardly enough for anyone else to notice. Then Sterling asked something and he turned away.

Shilly leaned over and whispered, "Your boyfriend's cheating with Lucy. Thought you ought to know."

Mirta didn't believe it.

Her face must have shown that, because Shilly added, "Yep. At the Cloud Tower dance while you were away."

Of course the two people to ask were caught up in other conversations and this was really no time for a dramatic emotional conversation. Which was why Shilly had picked now to say it. The great witch pastime of messing with people. Mirta was tempted to cast a curse that would make all of Shilly's hair fall out, but that was against the Alfea rules, so she settled for glaring and promising revenge later if she thought of something good.

The cavern was quite crowded, with buses from all four schools plus two middle schools—Zenobia must have come on one of those. Lucy was talking with Katy, and the sorcery students had met up with some guys from Red Fountain.

A zing of magic hit Mirta's shoulder. She looked and saw Professor Avalon holding her cat. Mirta groaned. "I left him at home, I swear he wasn't on the bus."

"Does your cat often turn up in places he shouldn't?" The teacher asked.

"Sometimes."

"Hmm."

Hexen meowed politely and weaved between people to sit by Mirta's feet. There was no time for further conversation; a gong boomed and high up on one wall a wooden door opened and a large, bearded man stepped out. "Welcome students!" he boomed, "I am the Chief Thief for this beautiful city. You're here to take a tour of our fine guildhall and learn a bit about our philosophy. Which begins..." He gestured and magical lights flared along the wall. They spelled out STEAL FREEDOM.

"The Thieves Guild began in a realm ruled by tyranny. The people did not have the strength to defeat their oppressors in combat so they learned to be thieves. To steal the things they needed to survive. To steal friends out of prison. Finally to steal their country and put in a better government.

"Then, world saved, they decided to have fun. Here in modern Magix we try to help people and have a good time. Look around, find out how."

The chief bowed and vanished.

The milling around and talking started again. Mirta finally got a chance to look around. The cave had plenty of room for six buses. There was a huge door at one end and a smaller people-sized door at the other, under where the chief thief had been standing. The rest of the guildhall must be through there.

"I wonder where we are, where in the city I mean." Lucy said.

Briefly, everyone tried a bit of location magic, which didn't work. Keith said, "No chance we could find something the police can't. Want to check out the rest?" He offered Mirta his arm.

Mirta stuffed down desire to ask what Shilly had meant, linked arms with her boyfriend, and they went off to explore.

There were practice areas for various thief skills like picking locks and climbing walls, and a row of dummies hung with bells waiting to have their pockets picked. Everyone took a try at that. Mirta failed miserably, but Katy did pretty well. Keith cheated, using magic to grab the treasure off the dummy. The 'treasure' turned out to be a fake voodoo doll. Keith tossed it to the nearest thief, "So, the point is if someone's got dark magic gear, you steal it?"

"Of course. A standing request from the mayor's office."

"Steal from the rich and give to the poor too?" Lucy asked.

"Sometimes."

There were a lot of guild members hanging around, apparently just for fun. They were all wearing black, with scarves or masks over their faces. There were men and women, teenagers, adults, and a few people stooped with age. Mirta was pretty sure there were girls she knew from Cloud Tower here—maybe from Alfea too. You'd never know, under the masks.

Keith and Jess tossed a few names back and forth, guessing about their fellow students. "They'd never admit it, even if we guessed right."

"True. Oh look, trophies."

They'd entered a hall of pillars holding objects under shield spells, and lots of pictures. Selene looked closely at a photograph, "Oh no way, this is still in the museum. I saw it!"

"Maybe she gave it back after taking the picture. I mean, bragging rights, I can see that."

A girl thief, visible only as blue eyes with lots of glittery eyeshadow, was lounging against the wall, "Oh, it's all about bragging rights. You're witches, you know that."

"So which one is your brag?" Jess asked.

The girl languidly pushed off the wall; and tapped a photo of... a statue. A life-sized statue. "I put it back... oh, kitty!"

Hexen revved up the purr and accepted his due in ear-scratches.

"You're not going to steal my cat are you?"

"Nah, I have one already. Whoops, here's the bells!"

Four deep chimes rang around them, not too loud but the floor trembled slightly.

"We're under a temple." Lucy observed.

"'Course. You know, people in trouble come to a temple to talk to someone about their problems. Once in a while those problems would be solved if something disappears and reappears somewhere else."

"So the Thieves' Guild is a bunch of good guys who work for the mayor and the temples?" Selene asked like she didn't believe it.

"Weeelllll... sometimes we just do things for fun."

They wandered on. The hall of trophies was pretty impressive. Plenty of other masked thieves were happy to boast, most of them ending with, "...and then I put it back since there's no room for it in my house."

The way they told it, the museum was perfectly happy to have its priceless treasures stolen regularly. Mirta doubted it. Well, as long as nobody touched the fragile exhibits maybe... she resolved to ask Orion about it. His mother worked for the Guild of Archaeologists and they worked for the museum, sort of.

Eventually everyone trickled back to the main cavern. It wasn't even dinnertime by Mirta's watch—which she still had. The bangles had disappeared at some point.

Shilly's little sister hadn't been stolen either, and she'd managed to cast a hex on Kylie. The fairy now had long curling horns on her head. She actually looked kind of cool, but she was chasing the young witch around the cavern screeching. Professor Avalon, Professor Ediltrude from Cloud Tower, Codatorta from red Fountain and a tall, scary looking lady teacher from Balthazar's Academy were all watching with amusement. Shilly looked quite proud of her little sister.

"Well, cursing a third-year fairy is an accomplishment." Lucy said.

Keith was smiling. "I like you people."

"Is that your teacher?" Mirta asked.

"Miss Rasputin. She's so scary she can teach at a boys' school without any of us ever having a crush on her." Jess made a big-eyed scared face. "Hey, you guys want to come see our school? Other people are getting on different buses, there's plenty of time before dinner."

"I want to!" Mirta answered immediately. To her surprise, Lucy nodded too.

Katy jumped up in front of them, "Visit the legendary fourth magic school that nobody ever gets to see? You bet!"

"Where have you been?"

"Looking for secret passages. Didn't find any, but I bet there are some. Hey professor, can we visit the boys' school?" She yelled, waving.

"Go anywhere you want, just be back for dinner." Avalon called back, then went back to chatting with Miss Ediltrude. Mirta had heard paladins could get along with anybody, and it seemed to be true.

The bus from Balthazar's was black, just like their uniforms. The school itself was not black, but it was big and castley and gothic. Clearly a building built by people, not built by magic like Alfea and Red Fountain, or a living building like Cloud Tower. Mirta gazed at it with fascination. It was a very fancy building, lots of little windows and fiddly trims and stone gargoyles.

"Do those come alive?" Selene asked as they got out of the bus.

"Yeah, they yell at you if you come in after curfew."

A gargoyle down near ground level hissed and Hexen hissed back.

"Was that cat on the bus with us?" Sterling asked.

"He just turns up."

Inside was a big vaulted hall with two staircases going up at the end. Most of the students vanished up one of these.

Jess waved a hand, "Dorms that way, classrooms that way. And the big painting is Professor Balthazar the first. Want to hear the story?"

Keith added, "It is quite a story."

"Professor B number one was a seventh son—know what that is? The mom does some magic and kid number seven gets as much magic as kids one through six put together. A-_ma_-zing amount of power. But there was no magic school for guys in the realm, so where could he learn to use his powers?"

Jess paused for dramatic effect.

"So what did he do?" Katy asked.

"Dressed as a girl and went to Cloud Tower."

Lucy coughed on a laugh. Mirta said, "No way!"

"This was a hundred years ago so Cloud Tower had uniforms that, y'know, covered more. And he had three older sisters to teach him how to act like a girl. Here's the evidence."

It was a Cloud Tower class photo, an old one, framed on the wall. The girls were wearing uniforms that covered everything, and pretty well erased their figures. None of them looked like an undercover boy, but in a small picture you couldn't really tell.

"So he graduated?" Katy asked.

"Yep! Did all three years, graduated with honors. His roommate figured it out, but she kept his secret. They got married later and opened this school. That's the story."

"Miss Griffin never told us about him." Lucy said with a grin.

Mirta squinted up at the big portrait, "He doesn't look very girly in that. Maybe it's the beard."

"Yeah, if I'd gone to a girls' school I think I'd grow one too." Keith said.

They took a quick tour. The classrooms were all cut out of dark stone and kind of spooky, especially the potions lab with its rows of beakers and curling glass tubes. The cafeteria was full of guys practicing drawing magic circles on the floor. One kid had gotten it wrong and his chalk lines caught fire. He yelped and dived to the side as fellow students summoned rain.

"Is it always like this?"

"Usually." Sterling said as magical brooms and mops arrived to clean up the mess. "The brooms are supposed to be moved by the ghosts of all the students who blew themselves up. Can you witches see their ghosts?"

Mirta looked. No ghost. "I think it's just a spell. Or it's a ghost my magic can't detect." Lucy nodded agreement.

The library was nice, but clearly newer and smaller than the one at Alfea. The dorms were not dark stone, they were paneled and very nice. Every room had two guys living there, with a screen between the halves of the room. Mirta, who'd been wondering, peeked in Keith's closet. He really _didn't_ have anything but uniforms. He had a lot of books about magic though, stacked on the desk and the floor and filling the empty bottom of the closet. There weren't a lot of things that weren't related to studying magic.

Keith was looking at her as she looked at his room. "You approve?"

"Where's your... stuff?"

"Jess has enough for both of us."

Well, he had a point. Jess' side had heaps of clothes, music discs, comic books, and random objects.

Across the hall they looked into Sterling's room and met his roommate, a pale-haired boy working at a workbench. He was making a metal butterfly that he wound up and let flutter around the room.

Jess came over with a piece of paper he handed to Lucy. "With our thanks, my lady." He said and bowed.

"Why does she get ice cream coupons?" Katy asked.

"She saved our lives at the dance." Jess said seriously.

Lucy protested weakly enough that nobody understood her.

Keith added, "Some of those Cloud Tower students are scary. A witch with blue hair kept trying to hit us with love spells."

"It would've been fun watching you chase after her..."

"Yeah and what happens if _you_ get hit by a love spell from a girl, your brain explode?"

"So anyway we bribed Lucy with free food to dance with us. She's really good."

Katy was giggling unashamedly. Lucy was blushing very pink.

Mirta grinned. "Tell Shilly nice try."

"Did she say we were getting up to something?" Lucy guessed.

"Exactly. I think she was bored."

Keith and Jess both looked confused at this. Katy said, "Witches are weird. These two are the only ones who make sense."

"Ah, Shilly's got a good heart. It just doesn't always show. In fact it mostly doesn't." Mirta said.

A loud whistle startled them. Sterling's roommate leaned into the hallway and pointed to the clock on the wall, then his hands fluttered in a few quick signs. Keith translated, "Almost time for dinner, when all female visitors have to leave. The teachers do try to keep us on good behavior."

They headed for the front doors, passing another self-propelled broom cleaning the stairs along the way. Keith gave it a predatory look, "If it's really just a spell, I bet I can crack it."

"Showoff." Jess said without anger.

"Having one sweeping our room would be showing off."

Katy shot Mirta a little smile that meant, 'I see why you like him.' Out loud she said, It's nice out, let's just fly home. You too, Lucy?"

"Sure."

So they did.

A few days later Mirta's imaginary kingdom in Arts of Rulership class was conquered by Kadija's mobile army. On the way out of class Lucy called and demanded to hear all about the terrible takeover. "...so I'm not going to flunk the class, but it's probably a good thing I'm not in line for a throne anywhere."

Lucy giggled, "But we'd look great in those dresses Princess Stella and Princess Aisha wear. By the way, Shilly says her sister cursed four fairies on the field trip.'

"Only Kylie and Ortensia admitted it, and Ortensia didn't mind growing giant mouse ears."

"Ha. So, I have free ice cream coupons. We could go, or invite Shilly and maybe Zia, or invite the fairies and the guys too. Unless you guys are going on another trip-"

Lucy's voice suddenly stopped, and there was a clattering noise.

"Lucy?" Mirta asked, waited a minute and tried, "You there?"

The phone seemed to be working, and it said the call was still open. Mirta was about to hang up and call back when someone shrieked, "What's that!?"

"Get a teacher!"

"Get _Bloom_!"

Everyone was crowded around a window. Mirta shoved her way through.

Valtor's symbol hung in the sky over Cloud Tower.


	18. Chapter 18

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 18

Mirta had worried about how she'd get back into Alfea, but Selene was waiting by the gate, fiddling with some magical bits while she waited. She opened the gate and the school's shields rippled open. Mirta ducked gratefully inside.

"So, did you get into Cloud Tower?" Selene asked acidly.

"Um..."

"Come on, where else would you be sneaking off to? You might've let us come!"

Mirta wilted under her friend's glare. "Sorry... it wouldn't have helped anyway. I met Bloom and the girls, I was with them and we barely got out safely. The witches are under some kind of spell and the teachers are trapped in the dungeon, we couldn't get any of them out even with three enchantix fairies! We found out where Miss Faragonda is though..."

"What? Where? Is she all right? Come on Grizelda's taken over the headmistress office, you better tell her everything!"

Grizelda had indeed taken over Miss Faragonda's office, with all the teachers standing by and calls open to Saladin at Red Fountain and the chief of police. Mirta gave a stuttering report of everything she'd seen at Cloud Tower, then had to answer a lot of questions. Were any students injured? "No, not that I saw." Were any teachers injured? "They look like they were in a fight, banged up and low on magic but I don't think any of them need to go to the hospital." Had she overheard Valtor saying anything about his plans? "I was too busy dodging monsters!"

Finally the Winx and pixies returned and they'd found Miss Faragonda, turned into a tree. Talk immediately turned to how they could restore her to human form and Mirta could retreat into the background for a while. Eventually something was decided, something about a potion from Linphea, and the police and Saladin signed off.

"By the way Miz G, Mirta was great! She totally saved us finding that passageway." Musa said suddenly.

Mirta felt herself blushing. "I think Cloud Tower remembered me. I wish I could've done more to help."

Miss Grizelda's gaze went sharp, "Did you transform while you were in Cloud Tower?"

"No. I thought the Trix might have a magic detecting spell, and I was trying to sneak in without being noticed. Then later Bloom asked me not to."

The red-haired princess quickly explained, "If Valtor knew Mirta's special, he might've tried harder to capture her, or put his zombie spell on her. I mean, it's bad enough having the Trix after _us_ every time we turn around, you don't need that too." She was giving Mirta a sort of apologetic look.

Mirta was torn between feeling useless because she hadn't been able to fight, and a mixture of common sense and terror telling her Bloom was right. "You have a point. I wanted to help, but I don't think I'd have been much use against a wizard as powerful as Valtor anyway."

Grizelda nodded, "Good thinking, both of you! We do not need to give Valtor any new targets; he's making quite enough trouble as it is! And now I think you girls have had enough adventure for one night. Off to bed, all of you! You should be rested to begin the search for a counterspell."

"Will Miss F be all right overnight?" Stella asked, "I mean, what if the witches try to chop her down or something?"

"That's why I sent your teachers to extend Alfea's protection wards to cover the tree. And the pixies will alert us if anything happens. Now good night!"

Dumped in the hallway Mirta frowned at the door. "I... it seemed like the grownups are concentrating on Miss Faragonda, but Griffin and the witches need rescuing too. We can't just abandon them!"

"We aren't going to." Bloom said.

"There's a tree in my home city on Linphea that should be able to give us a spell to bring Miss Faragonda back, then we can all concentrate on breaking Valtor's spell. Your friends will be ok for a day or two, right?" Flora put her arm around Mirta's shoulders.

"Anyway, if Valtor actually hurts anybody the entire police force will come down on him like a tidal wave."

That made sense. Mirta nodded reluctantly and leaned on Flora. She was really tired after running around and dodging monsters and being scared out of her wits.

Aisha said, "We really should get to bed, we're leaving first thing in the morning." Stella pretended to be dismayed at having to get up early, but her heart wasn't in in. All the girls looked like they'd rather be heading off to save Miss Faragonda now, tired as they all were.

"Well good night." Mirta said, "Good luck tomorrow."

"Don't worry, we'll get Miss F back to normal in no time, and your friends too! 'Night Mirta!"

Mirta was only alone for a moment before Hexen appeared, meowing imperiously. "Oh man, I forgot your dinner didn't I? Sorry Hex! Come on, let's get you something before we go to bed."

In the morning Livy was knocking on Mirta's door with a summons. Her friends were waiting at the headmistress' office.

It was not what Mirta had expected.

"You're sending us away?"

"This world sent an urgent call for help last week, and Faragonda decided you would be the best students to send."

"But we can't go anywhere now! Everyone at Cloud Tower is still under that spell! I can't leave while they're in danger!" Out of the corner of her eye, Mirta saw her friends go big-eyed with surprise; nobody ever talked back to Miss Grizelda.

Grizelda didn't blink. "Actually, that's why you must leave now." She waved a hand at the crystal ball on Miss Faragonda's desk and it lit up.

Everyone gathered around "Is that Valtor?" Katy asked.

"Why is he dressed like that?"

Mirta aimed a halfhearted swat at Lolina for mentioning clothes at a time like this. "You can scry into Cloud Tower?"

Grizelda smiled thinly. "Everyone is keeping a close magical eye on Valtor and the Trix. This is what they were talking about this morning."

The image started moving. Icy was saying, "...failed as a witch so she moved to Alfea. She'll probably be back looking for her loser friends."

Stormy singsonged, "Not worth the spe-ell!"

Valtor waved a lace-cuffed hand, "I believe I have enough minions—if the three of you can be trusted not to break them. Please, no lightning strikes or ice coffins."

"Is making them rub my feet allowed?" Darcy's voice asked from outside the image. Stormy made a face.

"Go ahead, just don't damage them, much."

Darcy's voice said, "Good. You, get me a soda."

Stormy's face lit up in an evil grin. "You, get some scissors and cut off your hair!" The minion became visible briefly as she moved to obey, and Mirta gasped with a mixture of amusement and pity. Zia was so proud of her long bluegreen hair, when she realized it was gone she'd freak out. But Zia wasn't very nice and kind of deserved it. She could always get her hair fixed at a salon later.

Icy rolled her eyes and huffed a sigh. "Can we please get on with this? Mirta? Most pathetic witch ever? You want her as a minion or not?"

"If she comes back, you can do what you want with her. One witch is much less important than the portal on Andros."

The image stopped, and the crystal went dark. Mirta felt like Icy had ice-coffined her stomach. "Um..."

Lolina said in some awe, "They were talking about you. Valtor knows about _you."_

There was a brave, fairylike answer for that. "That doesn't matter, if people are in trouble."

Miss Grizelda actually smiled. "Good answer. But since you are a student at this school the decision is mine and I am sending you away for your protection and that of the other students. We do not need Valtor gaining a minion who knows where everything is in Alfea. The captive witches are in no immediate danger but the people of the realm of Kythera are. The elements in that realm are badly out of balance and the wind has stopped blowing. Mirta's power over air should be useful. You three will go with her. Priscilla and Selene, I'd like you here to help defend Alfea. We need some enchantix fairies here while the Winx are away looking for a cure for our headmistress."

The two of them didn't look happy, but they nodded. "Kimmy can protect you." Priscilla said cheerfully, earning funny looks from just about everyone.

"The planet Kythera is a medieval realm with a small population, little industry, and not much to recommend it. But the people there do need your help. You four, get suitable clothing and be back here in an hour. Your chaperone should be here by then."

"What?!" Lolina yelped.

"It's a medieval realm; they have old-fashioned standards. Off you go!"

Mirta had briefly imagined they'd have to get 'suitable' medieval clothes from a store, or by borrowing Stella's, but it turned out Alfea had a selection of stuff available for short trips like these. Shortly they all had long gowns and shawls and, for Lolina, a pointy had with a veil hanging off the tip. Katy found the only separate skirt-and-top set, so there would be a gap for her tail to stick out.

"It's going to be hard to run in these."

"That's when we transform."

"Mmm..." Kimmy replied, pulling a dress over her head.

"Or we depend on our 'chaperone' to protect us." Lolina giggled, "I wonder who it'll be."

It was Keith. Who looked handsome but uncomfortable in a long tunic and cloak of basic black. "Escorting pretty girls around the weird planet sounded more interesting than sitting around waiting to see what Valtor does next. Don't worry—the entire student body is trying to figure out how to break the spell and Jess and Sterling promised to keep an eye out for Lucy."

Suddenly everything was looking better.

The portal dropped the five of them in a dusty town square. The sun was high overhead and the air heaved with heat haze and red dust. There was no breeze. Katy sniffed, waved her hands through the air, and lashed her tail. "Weird."

"It'll be hard to fly." Kimmy said softly.

There was nobody around, maybe because it felt so strange outside. The buildings around them were built of red-brown bricks with thatched roofs. There weren't a lot of plants, and the ones they saw were wilted and droopy. It looked like a pretty big city but the streets weren't paved.

"We're supposed to meet up at the town hall." Mirta said, "I'm not sure who we're meeting, whoever it is that asked Miss F for help I guess."

Lolina read a street sign and pointed the way. Under her breath she murmured, "Something is wrong with this place, can you guys feel it?"

Mirta nodded, feeling her hair brush her cheeks. Even her hair felt strange in the too-still air. She reached out to her patron spirit, to see if it could tell her anything, but all she got was a jumble of confused impressions. She did get the impression that fixing this would be fair payment for having her life saved on Marigold.

Then they reached town hall and found all the people. Dozens of townspeople were lined up to speak to the mayor, most of them grumbling. They were all dressed in dull clothing and Mirta felt suddenly out of place in the bright orange and red dress she was wearing. Lolina snatched the pointy hat off her head and stuffed it away somewhere.

As they came in a woman was saying, "...always trying to steal from me! I'm the victim of this curse!"

"You and everyone else who can't get their rations! The government is as bad as the curse!"

"They're doing their best!"

"You can just leave!"

The visitors looked at each other. The fairies looked worried and sympathetic. Keith looked wary.

Then somebody noticed them and the whole crowd turned to look. Mirta was struck mute by stage fright. Kimmy shrank. Katy said, "Hi! We're from Magix, we were sent to help you!"

Someone said, "She has a tail!"

"I'm a cat fairy, of course I have a tail. Only part of the time though. Who sent the message to Alfea?"

"I did." Said the woman who'd said she was the victim of a curse. She had a wide, flabby face and brown hair pulled back in a bun. "Miss Faragonda sent you?"

"Yes Ma'am." Kimmy said, "I'm Kimmy, these are Mirta, Katy Spika and Lolina. Our friend Keith came along to help out. We're here to help the people of this realm. Can someone tell us what's going on—one person, not everybody!"

Everybody had started talking, hopefully now.

"I'll tell you. Someone's cursed our world!"

"Malia, we don't know for certain it is a curse." That from a small, patient-looking man identifiable as the mayor only by the medal of office that he wore.

"Of course it's a curse, seen it haven't I? Come on, you lot!" She waved the visitors towards the door, and they were happy to escape the noisy crowd. Back on the street Malia continued, "You can stay at my place, it used to be the inn back when we had visitors. This was a nice place once, you wouldn't think it now but it was. Then the weather stopped. Just stopped. Now the plants won't grow, our city didn't become the capital, we have to take charity donations from other realms... everything's falling apart. If you can't break the curse we'll all have to evacuate the planet!"

"You said you've... seen it? Seen what?" Mirta asked.

"The curse! Black animal, like a rat! It's always here in town stealing things and spreading bad luck."

Mirta blinked. She had heard of curses in animal form, and she tried to remember Miss Zarathustra's lecture—but mostly just remembered that that day Stormy had been bored and sending chilly breezes around the room freezing everybody's knees.

"Here we are."

There was an old inn sign hanging in front of the building but it was faded to the red-brown of the planet's dirt. It must have been a nice inn once, but there were only two rooms that still had beds. Keith got the small room closest to the stairs, and the girls got the big one. It only had three beds, but Katy usually changed to cat form to sleep and she didn't take up much room that way. They dumped their bags, and Keith said it was the chaperone's job to cast anti-bug spells.

"And don't worry about the bathroom; I know about medieval realms."

There was a worried dash to the bathroom to see what he meant. The bathroom turned out to be a bench with a hole to... somewhere. Somewhere very smelly. And something important was missing. While the girls stared in dismay Keith came up behind them, took a small white cube out of his pocket, and expanded it into a large package of rolls of toilet paper.

"I wanna go home." Kimmy said faintly.

Mirta was coming to the horrified realization that her next hot shower might be back at Alfea, next week. Alfea students were supposed to be willing to face hardship to help people, but hardship and being smelly seemed like a little too much.

Katy poked her. "Ok, with luck that'll be the scariest thing we face on this adventure. What shall we do now?"

Everyone was looking at her like she was in charge. Mirta didn't actually have a plan. "U-um. Let's take a walk around, see where we are, maybe talk to some people. And try to find that curse-beast. It's acting pretty weird, if it's stealing things."

"So what's a curse-beast?" Lolina asked as they walked down the street.

Ahead of them someone shrieked and something clattered. "The monster!"

It was up on the roof, and paused to screech at them. It was small, like a rat, covered in patchy black fur and red scabby skin. Yellow eyes glared down at them, then the beast scrabbled away.

Kimmy called after it, without much hope.

"Was that the curse-beast?" Mirta asked the woman who'd screamed.

"Little monster! Always goes for the most expensive things!"

It was a food shop, with barrels of flour and sugar, piles of withered fruit and small jars of spices. On the other side of the shop were piles of boxes stamped with the navy's logo. Malia had said the realm was getting food supplies sent in. "What's the beast after?"

The shopkeeper gestured up towards the ceiling where pieces of smoked meat were hanging, wrapped in paper and preservation spells. "Real meat! Critter goes for it every time, ignores the protein-whatever they send from Magix, even though that tastes better. You fairies here to make that thing give back our breezes?"

"We're going to try." Mirta said.

Back outside Keith offered, "Makes sense a curse-beast would want real meat; it's evil so it'd want something with life energy in it. But that thing was a lot smaller than the one Quinn conjured at the beginning of the year."

"One of your classmates summoned one?"

"Yeah. It ate a table, then Miss Rasputin banished it."

They were getting curious looks from the fairies so Mirta explained, "Sometimes when you curse someone it appears as a monster animal that carries the curse to the victim. They usually look like big black dogs."

"Creepy!" Lolina said.

"So you can see the curse coming before it gets you."

"Yep. And sometimes it hangs around to watch you suffer. Of course, if you're _casting_ the curse and mess it up, the beast will hang around you and destroy stuff until the magic runs out and it fades away."

They'd reached the edge of town. A few farms edged the road, their trees wilting and fields bare. Mirta could see why meat was expensive; there wasn't any grass for livestock. In the distance she could see mountains and, closer, a strange patch of mist. She pointed and the group continued towards it.

Katy said, "But that critter was no giant dog, it was tiny. You think it's running out of power or something?"

Keith shrugged, "The one I saw just went poof, but who knows. Maybe a curse big enough to affect a whole planet works differently."

"Is this realm cursed? Sure feels like it but maybe it's something natural." Lolina was at the back of the group, breathing hard.

The others felt it too. The still air felt heavy and breathing took more effort. The plants seemed to feel it too; everything drooped and there was a lot of bare ground. Where were the weeds? Then Mirta realized, "Of course! No wind to disperse the seeds. If this continues, species will go extinct."

"This reminds me of the dead realm in my magical reality test."

"Great. Save the world, save the plants..." Lolina grumbled. She got out her phone, checked for messages, and put it away.

They reached the strange mist. A valley was full of rain. The clouds were sunk low to the ground and drizzled continuously, making the ground underneath a slurry of mud. It looked like it had been raining here for ages. Up close they saw aqueducts had been built, carrying water back towards town.

"The weather doesn't move." Keith said in some shock.

Well, they'd have to try sooner or later. Mirta summoned her gloomix and imagined a nice cool breeze, pulling the cloud apart to rain somewhere else. Nothing happened. She gave it more power, still nothing. There was air, because they were breathing, but the magical element of air was missing. "I can't. Nothing's answering. You guys try."

Everyone tried a few spells. Kimmy managed to whistle up a momentary movement in the air that died immediately.

Keith said, "Huh, well if that almost worked..." He gestured. The air around them began to vibrate, then buzz loudly. Pressure built around them. The ground jerked, spilling Mirta and Lolina off their feet.

"...sorry."

Katy's hair fluffed. "Sorry? How did you _do _that?"

"Ah..." Keith looked sheepish. "The spell couldn't move the air and it had to go somewhere so it found the nearest fault line and let off a little pressure. Such a small tremor probably didn't damage any buildings."

"You hope." Lolina grumbled.

Defeated, they headed back to the inn. The heavy air made it tiring just to walk. When they got to town Katy slowed down and started watching the rooftops.

"You looking for that thing?" Kimmy asked.

"I'm not sure it really is a curse."

"Don't touch it, in case it is."

"I know... is anybody watching?" Nobody was, and Katy shifted into the form of a fluffy tan cat. She gestured at the roof where the creature had been, and Mirta gave her a gentle toss up.

Keith hadn't seen Katy change before. "Whoa. Can you all do that?"

"I wish. Katy's a natural and Alice is just talented, and the rest of us... aren't. I can't even change my ears." Mirta said sadly.

Katy appeared at the edge of the roof. "Well I don't know what it is, but it's got mange!" She sneezed, hopped off the roof, and shifted in midair.

"You can't tell if it really is a curse?" Mirta asked.

"Nah, it could just be enough like an animal to get sick or it could _be_ an animal. I guess. I can't smell anything but mange stink. Urg." She rubbed her hands on her skirt. "I could follow the smell maybe, later... whatever this thing is it could use a bath and some healing."

From behind them Kimmy said, "It's not... the only one."

A procession of sad, skinny horses was coming up the street from the direction they'd come from. They were soaking wet. They must be farming the valley, in the endless rain. Horses could work in the rain of course, as long as they were cared for and their hooves were treated to prevent— "Oh no. They've all got hoof rot, don't they?"

"They don't look happy." Katy said, which was the limit of her horse knowledge..

Suddenly Kimmy said, "We can't use fairy dust but we could do a convergence healing spell. Do you want to try?"

The boy leading the horses looked at Kimmy, "You can fix their feet? Really?"

"Maybe..." Kimmy replied, shy again, maybe because the boy was looking at her like any boy would look at a pretty blonde fairy.

Lolina said, "You took the convergence class, what do we do?"

"We just have to feel the same thing. That should be easy when there are animals in trouble."

Mirta backed off to give them room. Quietly Keith said, "I know you can't do convergence between different magical types but seriously, the Great Dragon couldn't bend the rules here? You've even got wings like them."

Mirta had just felt the usual pang of being left out, and having someone else annoyed on her behalf felt... really good, actually.

The magic bloomed and faded, invisible to the eyes but feeling like a quick wash of sunlight. The horses visibly perked up now that their feet didn't hurt, dancing in place, one or two coming to sniff at the fairies. Katy backed away, but Kimmy petted their long faces and talked babytalk.

Mirta said, "There's medicine you can paint on their hooves that makes it safer to stand in mud all day, but I don't know how to make it." She remembered vividly stirring the huge sludgy cauldron for hours to make enough to last a particularly rainy spring, but she couldn't remember the ingredients.

"This is a medieval realm, would they accept medicine from outside?" Keith asked. Mirta shrugged. She knew realms like this one chose to stay at a certain technology level, but she didn't actually understand the rules. Certainly nobody would choose to stick with medieval medicine...

The boy driving the horses thanked the fairies and went back to his charges, clling to them and giving a few light slaps to get them moving towards wherever they spent the night.

The sun was setting but the air was still heavy with uncomfortable summer warmth. They walked back towards their inn, ready for dinner. Kimmy jumped suddenly and pulled out her phone. She held it up and a hologram of Selene's head popped up in the air.

"Hi guys! How's the field trip going?"

"Nowhere, what's happening at school?" Katy asked.

"Nothing. Valtor's lying low, nobody left Cloud Tower all day. The police are keeping an eye on it. We've been waiting for either an attack or the Winx to get back and save Miss Faragonda, neither happened so—boring!"

Mirta let out a sigh of relief. She was still worried about Lucy, and Miss Faragonda. But even Valtor wouldn't hurt students with the entire police force and four schools watching him. He wasn't _that_ powerful yet.

The fairies were telling Selene about this weird windless realm. "It's a difficult assignment." Kimmy said somberly.

"Wish we were there to loan you some enchantix power!" Priscilla's voice said from somewhere outside the hologram's range.

"We wish you were here too. But Grizelda had a point about protecting Alfea."

"Yeah yeah the boring important stuff. Well, it's bedtime for us—I'll call tomorrow, or the second anything happens."

"Thanks Selene." Mirta said.

Kimmy offered, "I'll send you a picture of dinner. If it's anything like the bathroom it'll be... different."

Selene laughed and ended the call leaving three fairies, one witch, and a sorcery student wondering what dinner _would_ be.

It turned out not bad: stew of vegetables and protein cubes. Similar to the food at Alfea actually, but here it was a reminder that this realm was in enough trouble it needed food sent from more healthy realms. Malia told them that the curse had even drawn pirates to try to steal their food supplies for a while.

"Pirates?" Lolina asked in delight.

Kimmy said, "I would not want to be a pirate who'd stolen disaster supplies. That's why we have a navy." Piracy had been covered in Arts of Rulership. Pirates had style and made interdimensional cruises more exciting and never hurt anybody—because if they did anything actually evil the navy would come after them.

Malia nodded. "The navy did chase them away, shot down a ship a few years back even, when it started shooting hexes! Lit up the sky. Most exciting thing happened here in years."

Mirta's brain presented her with an image, inspired by movies, of bright-painted pirate ships with sails of gleaming cloth-of-gold to catch the fluctuations of interdimensional space, and sleek dark blue navy ships blasting away at each other with ether-cannons and sparkling spell blasts.

Real life probably wasn't like that. She wrenched her brain back to the topic at hand. "Your realm's lost its wind, pirates are attacking, there's a critter that might be a curse-beast—"

"_Is_ a curse-beast! Everywhere it goes something bad happens!" Malia sounded very certain. She related a litany of illnesses, crop failures, and broken relationships, all preceded by sightings of the beast. "Even Mayor Rannold..."

"What about him?" Lolina asked when their hostess trailed off dramatically.

"Nobody says it but everybody knows. Mayor Rannold was up for election to be president of the whole realm but then he was... well... 'walking in the moonlight' with his brother's wife." She whispered, shaking her head.

Well a curse could bring out desires people normally wouldn't act on.

Mirta glanced at Keith. He was sitting, chin resting on his hand, looking blank-eyed and expressionless. He met Mirta's gaze and smiled wanly. Mirta wanted to ask if he was all right, but she wasn't sure _she_ was. Curses, beasts and pirates, a whole ecosystem and thousands of people in trouble, and they were supposed to do something about it. And she didn't have any idea what to do next.

Mirta was falling through the clouds of Marigold. She was sure she'd gotten out, she remembered getting out, but it was the same feeling, the air was so heavy and hard to breathe—it was so hot—

She jerked and woke up, gasping for breath. The room was dark and for a minute she didn't know where she was. A furry body tucked itself next to her and she petted it absently before realizing it was Katy, not Hexen.

"You all right?" The cat fairy asked.

"Bad dream..." the room really was hot, and stuffy. The window was open and Kimmy was sitting on the sill. Lolina was still in bed, sprawled on top of her blanket, but she moved and looked over when she heard their voices. "This realm is awful."

Katy said, "Nightmares for everyone. Even me, and I can sleep everywhere in this form. Don't stop, that feels like a great massage."

"I don't usually pet people who get better grades than me." Mirta joked, still rubbing Katy's furry back.

Katy purred. "We should all pet our friends."

Lolina giggled at that and Kimmy shook her head. Mirta got up and stuck her head out the window next to Kimmy. It was cooler outside, but not a lot, and the cool air wasn't coming in. "I'm going to see if Keith's up too."

"In your pajamas?"

Mirta looked down at her pajamas: loose pants and a shirt, with a pattern of crossed broomsticks. They covered more than most of her daytime clothes. She shrugged.

Keith's door was closed but the blue glow of a magical light shone underneath so he was awake. Mirta knocked quietly, and the door opened.

Keith was sitting in his window, a notebook open in his lap and a light floating above his head. "You guys couldn't sleep either?"

"Nope."

Kimmy asked, "Homework?"

"Theory. Trying to figure out how to power this spell." He passed the notebook over.

Mirta hadn't taken the class on spell diagrams, but this one contained some large numbers and intricate symbols.

Kimmy seemed to understand it though. "Get fairies to do it and use convergence."

"Can't. It needs to work with sorcerers and witches too."

"Hmm... get a bunch of friends then. It won't work as well as convergence but it'll help, and the three magical types working together would probably deliver enough power. What kind of spell is this for? You trying to invent a new species or move a planet or something?"

Keith took his notebook back, filled in a few more symbols and frowned at the result. "No kind of spell, it's just an exercise... that could _work_!" His face was animated suddenly, his dark eyes shining with excitement. "It's not perfect but.. never mind. The important thing is, I know where there's a breeze. Come on." He stood up, transformed his clothes into his sorcerer's robe, and stepped out the window. Mirta followed, then the fairies, who were surprised to find themselves standing on an invisible floor at the level of the second story window.

"What is this?"

"I call it the 'dance on air' spell. I invented it. Here we go!" And they shot towards the sky. Katy yowled in surprise and Kimmy and Lolina grabbed onto each other in fright.

The spell stopped, very high up—and the air was moving. Mirta hadn't realized how much she'd missed feeling the breeze on her skin.

"Oh that's better!" Lolina gasped.

Keith sat down, leaning on nothing, and casually pulled Mirta in next to him. Mirta was instantly very distracted as every nerve ending down her side lit up at once. It was a startling, amazing feeling—that she'd rather not have anyone else notice, so she just leaned on Keith and pretended snuggling with a boy was normal.

The fairies sat down too, stretching out to enjoy the novelty of moving air. Katy returned to human form and looked down through the totally invisible floor they were sitting on. "How high up are we?"

"High. About ten feet above us the major elementals of the upper atmosphere are really angry."

Mirta summoned her gloomix, listened, and flinched at the howl of rage that screeched across her senses. For a minute she tried to communicate with it, get some kind of useful information, with no luck at all. Finally, with nothing coming in but a headache, she blocked it out.

Katy stretched comfortably. "Well, you're more than just a pretty face."

Both Kimmy and Lolina gave her stern looks but Keith ignored the flirting attempt and just said, "Seventh son, I can do stuff like this."

"Hang on!" Mirta yelped, "Seventh son like Mister Balthazar like seven times as much magic as everybody else?"

"Yeah, I didn't tell you?"

"No! You didn't!"

"Sorry..."

Mirta, being closest, socked him. "Don't forget something that important!"

"I thought I told you!" Keith was laughing, "The guys know, everyone at school does, so I forgot I hadn't actually mentioned it..."

"Well that explains the earthquake. But you still couldn't fix the weather." Kimmy said.

"Whatever's wrong with this realm brute force isn't going to fix it, and brute force is all I'm really good for. I can blow stuff up and hold this thing up all night, but I can't do information spells and Professor Balthazar said if I ever tried a healing spell my patient would probably grow extra arms so I'm forbidden to try. So don't count on me for much."

Being reminded of their predicament at least cooled Katy's curiosity. After a long pause she said, "If nobody has another idea... we could try to find that animal. If it is a curse maybe we could figure out who cast it. Or, uh, get cursed if we touch it. If it's not a curse we'd at least know what it is."

"Well if it's critter hunting or going back inside, let's go hunting!" Lolina said.

"I don't have a better idea." Mirta said and Kimmy nodded.

"Well I was going to vote for staying up here all night, but duty calls." The invisible floor started to sink.

Lolina summoned one of her glowing rings. They had time, so she pulled it apart into two then three.

"Can you juggle those?" Keith asked.

"Sure." Lolina did for a minute, then collapsed the three rings back into one. "I can also use it to find that creature—I think." She bowed her head and concentrated for a minute, and the ring's glow slid around until it was mostly dark with one point of light. "That way. Can we just ride?"

"Sorry. Up and down only"

"I don't think it's far. It doesn't feel far."

They landed in the street. There were no lights on anywhere, nobody else was having trouble sleeping. Back home it would have been a joy, a thrill, to stand under the stars while the city slept, but the sluggish air spoiled it. The girls, who'd come out without their shoes, transformed so they could fly.

Lolina's magic led them around the back of a row of shops, down a reeking alleyway. The garbage had been hauled away but the smell hung in clouds so thick Mirta was surprised they couldn't see them.

"Oh ugh!" Katy covered her nose, "I can't track in this. Loli, you're our only hope if it lives in here."

"I think it does. Maybe in there." Lolina had one arm over her nose; with the other she gestured at an even smaller alley, a gap between buildings. Somebody had shoved an old chicken coop into the space, and piled other junk on top of it. The whole heap looked splintery and unpleasant.

Yellow eyes flashed at them from the bottom and the creature yowled at them before disappearing into the pile, its scabby rat tail showing for a moment as it vanished.

Lolina said, "Well, we found it. We could move all this junk..."

Katy sighed. "No, I'll go in. Maybe I can talk to it. I can smell the fleas from here..." She shifted into her cat form, gave one paw a nervous lick, and squirmed her way into the junk.

Silence.

Kimmy edged towards the pile, sending a magic light hovering over it and craning her neck to look. She shrugged. "Hey super-sorcerer, can you move this stuff with magic?"

"Sure. Rather that than touch it."

There was a sudden crash and howl and everyone jumped back. Katy yelled, "No, wait!"

Something exploded out of the trash, changing as it moved. Mirta saw a flash of bare legs and arms before the creature careened out of sight down the alley.

"Catch it!" Katy yelled. Too late. Lolina tried, but her magic sputtered out. Kimmy had her hands over her mouth in shock. Mirta stared after the creature, wondering if she'd really sen what she thought she had.

"Was that..?"

Katy turned human, stumbled, and leaned on Mirta's shoulder.

"Are you all right?"

"It got away. It's..?"

"It's a kid." Katy gasped out, almost crying. "It's not a curse or an animal. It's a kid. Like me. We need to find it again." But she didn't move, still frozen in a kind of shock.

Mirta patted her friend's shoulder, starting to feel sick as she thought about it. "All this time people hate it and think it's a curse and it's a person?"

"How could.."

Katy took a deep breath and steadied herself, "She's—I think it's a she—she's pretty young, maybe too young to change on purpose. Maybe nobody taught her. Loli, can you do your spell again?"

Lolina nodded. Kimmy said, "Do you want me to grab it—her—with magic?"

Katy nodded. Lolina held up a ring in a shaky hand. "That way. Over there and up, maybe on the roof."

They took to the air, in the dark without streetlights.

Lolina pointed at a roof with several chimneys crowded together. Katy waved everyone back and pulled out a can. She opened it and put it down on the roof, and fluttered back. The smell of fish wafted out. They waited. The fairies' wings shed sparkles in the air: Katy's golden, Kimmy's lavender and Lolina's green. Mirta and Keith faded into the dark.

A black shape slunk out from between two chimneys. It hesitated, looked at the food and up at them, and ducked back. Katy made a 'wait' gesture. After another few minutes it came out again. Kimmy opened a magic bubble and held it ready. The little animal reached the food and dug in. Kimmy's magic grabbed it and she picked up the bubble in her hands. Inside, the creature munched away in slow motion.

"We've got a few minutes before it pops back into normal time with us. Let's get somewhere it can't run away again—our room?"

They hurried.

In the light, it was a cat. Small as a rat, skinny and scabby and half bald.

The tiny creature crouched in a corner, patchy fur puffed out, staring at the humans in panic. Katy got out more food and put down a bowl of water. The kitten looked at the food but wouldn't come closer. Kimmy chanted a healing spell under her breath and energy flowed gently from her hands. The kitten dodged.

After ten minutes of this Katy was almost in tears. "Mirta, is there some witch spell to make her let us help?"

Mirta cringed. There was, and she could cast it, but she remembered Lucy's blank eyes and wasn't sure she could actually make herself do it. "You know what Professor Avalon says about controlling people with magic."

"You do know a spell! Mirta, please! She's sick and she's too scared to eat or let us heal her, it's gotta be worth it!"

The kitten had calmed down a little, and tucked herself into a compact ball still out of reach. She did look really scared. Mirta reached out, very slowly, hardly moving her hand and trying to build up healing energy at the same snail's pace. The kitten flinched away and hissed. Mirta made a face and gave in, building up the spell in her throat with just a tiny trickle of energy. "_Just for tonight, believe me. We're trying to help you._"

The little body drooped in relief, and in a minute the kitten was cuddled in Katy's lap, nibbling more canned fish while Katy whispered fairy healing spells over her.

Lolina said, "You can do a command spell? Why don't you use it to get Oleana to leave you alone?"

"It wouldn't work on a fairy, even a first-year. And it's wrong."

"So why do you even know it?"

"Cloud Tower. The seniors like to use it—zap, show me your homework, zap, give me your dessert. Had to figure out how it worked if I ever wanted to break it and eat my own cake!" Mirta said, smiling but not feeling casual. She didn't like how she felt now. Loli and Kimmy were going to wonder what other witch spells she knew, and actually she knew some pretty bad ones and couldn't prove that she hated how it felt to cast them so...

Keith, who'd been sitting against the door watching, silently held out his arm and Mirta scooted over to lean on him. Softly she said, "Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean I have to like being nasty." Then, "Hey Katy, want me to help? Witch healing's not as good as fairy healing but I could take a turn."

Katy shook her head, "Wouldn't help much. Spell can't fix not having enough to eat all year or... she's not talking. I-if she forgot how to talk..."

Kimmy spoke up, "Little guy probably just needs another day or two to realize she's really all right, then she'll start talking."

The hour was beginning to take its toll. Kimmy was back on her bed, hugging a pillow and watching them. Lolina flopped out too, and Mirta was beginning to slide down and consider her boyfriend as a possible pillow. The boyfriend gave her a nudge, "I think as your chaperone I'm supposed to keep guys _out_ of your bedroom, not be in here all night myself. I'm going to try to get a few hours sleep."

Kimmy yawned, "That's probably a good idea."

It was still hot and awful, but after the action Mirta was exhausted enough to want to lie down again. She dragged herself back to her bed. "G'night."

Keith smiled at them and let himself out, "See you tomorrow then."

Katy waved the lights out. Mirta wondered if she was going to change to cat form to sleep, but she stayed sitting on the floor with the kitten on her lap, and began to very quietly tell a story.

"Long ago, the moon rode in a chariot pulled by two cats. These cats were kind and wise, and the moon gave them the gift of speech so they could stay with her as friends. Time came the moon had a daughter and the two cats protected the baby until she grew to be a strong fairy. The moon's daughter gave the cats the gift of a human form so they could live in the world of people. Time came the moon's daughter had a daughter of her own, and the two cats protected the baby until she grew to be a beautiful queen. The moon's grand-daughter gave the two cats a world of their own, and the two cats started a family and are the first mother and father of me and you..."

Mirta woke up first, when sunlight coming between the shutters reached her face. She turned over, remembered Katy might be on the bed too in time not to kick her, and opened her eyes.

The kitten was up on top of the wardrobe, in human form. It really was a little girl, sitting curled into a ball with her legs against her chest. In human form she was positively pathetic, her knees bony and scraped up and her head half bald. What hair she had was black to match her cat form, and her eyes were still yellow.

"Morning kittycat." Mirta said in her best nonscary voice, "How you doing? Want some clothes? I've got a couple extra shirts." No answer. Looking at the child's face Mirta wasn't sure she understood. She rambled on, hoping her voice might do some good. "What I want is a hot shower, but I don't think there's one in this whole realm. We're from Magix, it's much nicer there. You can come back with us. You're a little young to start at Alfea but we'll figure out something to do with you until we find your family..." While she chattered, Mirta got dressed and combed her hair.

Lolina woke up, "Who are you talking to... oh. It... really is a person."

Kimmy said, "Hi sweetie, can you talk now?"

No answer, but the yellow eyes flickered a little.

The fairies got dressed, talking about calling Grizelda and whether they should get a portal home right now to get the kitten to a hospital, or wait another day to try again to fix the realm's weather. Katy made sure to introduce everybody, and offered the baby another can of meat for breakfast. "We'll call you Kittycat I guess, until we find your parents. Loli, can your spell..?"

Lolina tried her finding spell. "Nope. Either they're not in this realm or I don't know enough to find them. It works better if I can picture what I'm looking for."

Kimmy said somberly, "I think we should tell everyone. Malia and that shopkeeper, and a lot of other people probably, they've been doing awful things and didn't even know it and I think they should know."

"Oh yeah." Katy said with a bit of a growl in her voice.

Lolina said, "Anyway, we have to explain to Malia why her least favorite critter is now staying with us. That'll be fun!"

There was a knock on the door and Keith called, "There's breakfast downstairs. It looks... porridgey. Malia says no hurry."

"Who'd hurry for porridgey food?"

Ignoring Lolina, Katy looked up at the kitten, "Did you understand? Wait here, we'll be back soon with more food."

There was a definite flicker of understanding in the kitten's eyes at the mention of food. She made a motion that was almost a nod, and squirmed farther back on her perch, scrunched up between the wardrobe's top and the ceiling.

Breakfast was indeed porridgey, scooped from a big iron pot. It didn't really taste like anything. There was syrup, which helped. Keith and Mirta clinked bowls and dug in. Katy poured a lot of milk into hers, and another one for the kitten. Kimmy offered to take it upstairs before facing the strange food herself.

Lolina said, "Miss Malia, good news! We haven't fixed the weather but we did get something done: we found the curse-beast, only it isn't one. So that's one thing you don't have to be worried about."

"What?" Malia looked shocked. She sat down with them at the table. "It isn't?"

Katy's green eyes were cool. "She's a shapeshifter, just a confused kid with a magic talent. Do you have any idea where she might've come from?"

Malia slowly shook her head. She didn't look happy. Mirta was confused; shouldn't she be happy there wasn't a living curse wandering around?

"I can't think how. We've got no port—if Mayor Rannold had become president of the realm he was going to raise money for one, but _that_ didn't happen—so it couldn't have stowed away on a ship. So what did you do with the beast, whatever it is?"

Their hostess' expression was still strange. Katy shifted slightly, like her tail wanted to lash. She said, "She's here, want to meet her?" She vanished upstairs and returned with the kitten in her arms. The baby was scared and had her head stuffed in the crook of Katy's arm.

"That's... it?"

"Yep. Flesh and blood. Can't cause bad luck. She'll look more normal when her hair grows back."

Malia held out a hand that shook slightly, and not quite touched the kitten's back. "That's it?" She asked again.

"That's it." Mirta said as Katy headed back upstairs. "We're going to see the mayor, I think, to see if he knows where she might've come from. She must have parents somewhere."

"Ah, he might know. You remember where town hall is?"

The girls nodded. Then Malia asked, "If that's not the curse then what's causing all the trouble?"

"We don't know yet."

"But we'll find out! It's our duty as fai—as Alfea students!"

Kimmy smiled and added, "You can do that. I'll stay and babysit."

After breakfast the four of them walked through town. It was a nice morning, slightly cool though the air was heating fast and the sky a flat blue. People were at work, opening their shops and carrying things back and forth. The clatter of looms came from one upstairs window and the clang of a blacksmith at work echoed from one street over. Just people. It wasn't all that different from Mirta's home realm.

Town hall was just another weathered wood building. The traditional frieze of the nymphs and the Fairy of Justice was indoors to keep it out of the weather, when there'd been weather. The room they'd been in before was empty, and the rest of the building seemed to be a bit of a museum; the halls were full of pedestals holding items of significance and pictures from the history of the realm. Not photographs of course, but some of the artists had been really good. This had been a beautiful world, lush forests and fields, birds and animals... very different from what it was now.

"I feel magic." Lolina said.

Now that she'd said it, Mirta did too. But it could just be the normal energy that gathered around important objects, and this stuff had been used to start civilization.

A door upstairs opened and Mayor Rannold waved down to them. "Girls, come on up! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The mayor was dwarfed by his big desk and its piles of paperwork. He was shorter than the girls and looked up at them with an interested smile. There were more dusty artifacts on pillars by the windows, and paintings of the world's previous incarnation.

The girls lined up before the desk, Keith standing behind them in a chaperone-ish way. Katy took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair, maybe pushing her ears down. "It's about the creature that people think is a living curse."

The mayor nodded.

"It isn't. It's a little girl from the realm of Mau. So all this time everyone's been—" Katy stopped to take a breath, "We need to find her family. Do you have any records that might help us figure out when she got here or where she might have come from?"

"Mau? Aren't they... cats, isn't it? There are plenty of cats in town, but none have ever changed into people."

A snarl echoed through the room. "You're in charge of this town, where people let a child become starving and sick! You need to help us now, not say stupid things!"

Mirta heard, _Help us!_

The mayor stepped back and stuttered, "It's, if it's—there are records, of course, but I don't know that anyone would have noticed—I never did anything to it!

_Help us! Set us free!_

"...I'll call a council session, inform the foundling hospital, see the child's cared for..."

_Help us! _

Mirta said, "Did you hear that?"

"What?" Lolina was more concerned with Katy.

"I don't know. Something in here." Mirta passed the desk and the petrified mayor. There was a map on the wall, between the windows, and two objects on stands: a tarnished silver cup and a wooden flute.

It was the flute. She picked it up and whispers exploded in her mind. _Help us! Let us out of here! Help us, help us!_

"Mirta? You all right?"

"This is enchanted, some kind of elemental magic. Elemental control."

Quietly Keith said, "Someone piped away the sylphs."

"What?"

"Couldn't it be used for that? Call them away and lock them up somewhere?"

_Set us free!_

"It..." Mirta turned and looked at the mayor, "...you did it. Why?"

Caught between the question on one side and Katy's rage on the other, the little man turned away, slumping even smaller. "Because I would have been president. I worked so hard. Then that rumor ruined my chances. And we didn't—I didn't do anything wrong! Everyone believed a story and it ruined my dream."

"So you decided to experiment with some weird magic?" Lolina asked, incredulous.

"Well... why not?"

"But it destroyed your realm's ecosystem and screwed up everyone's lives! Your people don't deserve this!"

"Neither did I."

The sad story didn't matter, Mirta thought. Maybe it would later, but what mattered now was, "How do we fix it? Just play?" She raised the flute to her lips.

"Don't! Not in here. There's a cave, here on the map, where I cast the spell. Safer to break it there."

Lolina measured distance on the map, "Three or four hours to get there and back. I'll call Kimmy and tell her how long we're going to be."

Katy looked at the mayor, "You can tell everyone that we're doing some major magic and they should probably stay inside. And start checking your records. If you find anything helpful I'll _just_ let the police take care of you."

The cave wasn't visible from the air, and they only found it because the calls for help Mirta heard through the flute got so loud she couldn't hold it anymore. The spot was in the middle of a long rocky slope and the cave was sealed by a big stone. Earth to contain air elementals, of course.

They landed. Keith said, "This looks like rock hydra territory, anybody remember if this realm has them?"

"Oh that's a lovely thought." Lolina fluttered up a few feet and looked around.

Katy landed and took off again, "The ground's vibrating."

"Let's... back off. And get behind something. And shield." Mirta summoned her gloomix and reached out to the major elementals, and anything else that could hear, trying to communicate that a hurricane would just do more damage and not help anything. She wasn't sure the spirits understood. She was sure she wasn't going to be able to use the flute for any complicated commands; it was a crude tool for starting up wind patterns on a developing world, not a precision instrument.

"Ok. Everyone ready to duck? Keith, could you move that rock?"

"Sure, get the guy to do the heavy lifting." He pulled his sorcerer's staff out of nowhere. "Now? Ok."

Threads of blue lightning crawled across the ground, wrapped around the boulder covering the cave, and slowly lifted it up and rolled it to the side. A deep black hole was revealed, and the ground trembled, but nothing else happened.

"Um..." Mirta shrugged.

"Play it." Katy suggested.

Mirta didn't know how to play a flute, but she took a deep breath and concentrated on, _You're free! Come on out!_

The only noise was a harsh, "Fwee!" and then all the storms in the world poured up from the hole.

Mirta, closest, was pulled off her feet. She shrieked, banished her wings and fell. Keith and Lolina grabbed her and they all huddled under a magical shield. Windblown dirt swirled above their heads, blocking out the sun.

"You can see them." Lolina whispered.

They could. Slim humanoid shapes streamed past, wispy arms outstretched.

It was long minutes before the wind calmed down. On the hill, the bedrock was scoured clean, the tumbled stones standing bare and some of them were in different places.

And a gentle, normal breeze was blowing.

Lolina took a few running steps and jumped into the air. "Ah, this is better! Let's go see if the town's blown away!"

It seemed like a much longer flight, going back. About halfway through the fliers were ready for a rest. They settled on a hilltop covered in low pine trees whose needles, finally, stirred in the wind.

"This realm needs a visit from a plant fairy." Katy commented, "Or an entire team of druids. The ecosystem has been badly damaged."

"You think we should stay and help them more? I mean, we need to take care of the kitty and find her home, but if our job isn't done..?" Lolina rambled, then looked at everyone to see if they'd understood.

Katy snarled, "I think our job's done, these creeps don't deserve any more help!"

"They just didn't know." Keith said quietly, "Their lives are hard. If you thought you could see the source of your trouble, and maybe fight it, that would be better than feeling like there was nothing you could do."

Katy snarled, but it was halfhearted. "Well, my priority is tracking down Kittycat's family."

"Pirates!" Lolina exclaimed.

Everyone looked up.

"No, no—the kitty! Malia said a pirate ship got shot down, what if she was on it? They could've sent her down in a pod!"

Mirta and Katy gaped. It made sense.

"You can do that?" Keith asked skeptically.

Lolina grinned, happy to be the source of information. "Protected delivery pod, for dropping fragile stuff from orbit. I read in the news someone dropped a baby in one and it was fine. I mean, it's not _safe_-safe, but safer than a crashing ship."

For a moment they all imagined chaos and fire and a ship breaking up around them. Of course a mother would do anything to protect her baby. Keith sighed, "And the poor thing landed here. You know, back at school Professor Balthazar and all our teachers tell us to believe in magic, have faith in our powers... but here people believed in what they heard and lives got ruined. I guess it's two different kinds of belief but somehow... oh I don't know what I'm trying to say."

"Be careful what you believe in." Katy said immediately, and Keith bowed to her.

"And fix it. Your wings rested? Kimmy's probably missing us."

Something was wrong. They heard the rumble of many people shouting from the air. Everyone in town seemed to be gathered in the central square, some even watching from rooftops.

On one roof Kimmy was being held between two burly men, her long hair streaming in the wind. She looked more mad than hurt.

"Let her go!" Mirta yelled and the men, seeing all of them, shoved Kimmy down and fled.

Kimmy cried, "Malia, she's got-"

On the opposite rooftop Malia held a bag that screeched and wiggled.

"No..."

Malia was shouting something about, "...and end it once and for all! We'll be free!"

"Don't!" Lolina shouted, "It isn't—"

The bag dropped.

Katy launched herself off the roof, turned in the air to catch the bag against her chest—and slammed into the opposite building. Her wings crumpled against the wall. She dropped.

"Katy!" Kimmy screamed.

Mirta and Keith both lunged with spells, too late. They flew down as the crowd backed off in a horrified circle around the still body. Katy was just lying there.

"Please..." Lolina hissed. Her hands glowed with a healing spell, then the spell faded and she looked back in silent denial.

Mirta cast her own spell, telling herself fairies fall slowly and it hadn't been that high and Katy couldn't really be—and her spell wasn't working.

The kitten tore out of the bag and pawed at Katy's limp hand. The point where they touched began to glow and light spread over Katy's body. She lifted up, a golden blur that shaped into a long body with wide wings.

Katy landed on four huge paws. She took a look back at her long panther body and said, "Now _this_ is cool!"

"You're all right!" Mirta cried, stupidly, in relief.

Kimmy and Lolina hugged each other. Keith, standing protectively between them and the stunned crowd, glanced back and smiled.

Katy lowered her head to nuzzle the kitten, and fluttered her wings. After a moment the air glittered with fairy dust. The kitten blinked in surprise as sparkles swarmed over her and her fur grew back. She trilled happily and stood up into human form. More human than before somehow, as she hung on to Katy and looked around with interest and intelligence.

There were gasps and cries from the crowd around them. Katy snarled, and her voice echoed off the walls. "Do you see what you did, what you all did? By seeing a monster where there was none, you almost hurt an innocent person! Now go home! There's nothing to see here." At the noise, the kitten hissed and cowered against her.

"It's all right." Mirta stepped up next to them, "You don't have to be afraid of them anymore. Or anything, right now."

The kitten looked thoughtful then said in a small voice, "...rescued?"

"Yes." Mirta and Katy said together.

Lolina used magic to summon a shirt from their room, "Here Babycat, clothes. That's the first thing you have to learn about being human—or else we're going to have to stop hanging out with any boys. Kimmy, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Kimmy was tucking her hair back into its bun, looking grouchy. "Before you ask, twenty people came to kidnap us, and twenty more were waiting outside when I tried to fly away. Malia really wanted... well, everyone did. I would like to go home now."

The crowd was breaking up, people muttering and leaving, except for the ones still gawking at Katy. She ended the show by changing back to human. Keith decided they didn't need crowd control anymore and turned back, resting his staff casually across his shoulders.

"Oh yeah." Katy said, "Who's got a phone? Call Alfea, see how soon we can get a portal home."


	19. Chapter 19

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 19

The face that greeted them was a welcome surprise.

"Miss Faragonda!"

The headmistress endured enthusiastic hugs from Lolina and Katy, "Yes, yes, I'm fine. Took a short vacation as a tree—it was very peaceful. And who is this?"

The fairies tumbled over themselves telling her about the kitten and their trip. Hexen came dashing out of the building to twine around Mirta's legs. He went to do the same to Keith, then noticed the new arrival who was apparently _much_ more interesting. The kitten couldn't tell which was more interesting, cat or headmistress.

Miss Faragonda was immediately on the phone with the hospital, then Katy and the kitten were leaving without even changing into normal clothes. Keith said goodbye and headed back to his own school.

Mirta hauled her and Katy's bags upstairs, then it was time for a real shower and real food. The others had the same idea; they both appeared in the cafeteria with towels on their heads. Lolina was giving Selene and Priscilla the whole story, complete with gestures. Vecta waved to Mirta in her stiff way, and Mirta waved back and went to get food.

"So you brought back an orphan kid who turns into a cat?" Priscilla said.

Mirta made 'reverse that' gestures, "More like a stray that turns into a kid. I don't know if she's... going to be all right, for being a person."

Vecta said, "It is not difficult." Then she looked as if she were having second thoughts.

"You started with a high intelligence. She started by being a cat."

"She a fairy?" Selene asked.

Mirta and Lolina shrugged, and Kimmy said, "I think it's too early to tell."

They got back about dinnertime. Everyone was waiting to meet the kitten, who fled to a high shelf and looked down at them with wide yellow eyes.

Katy had clearly had a long day. She didn't even have her cat-ears out. "Babycat is about eight or nine, suffering from longterm malnutrition. She was suffering from a bunch of other things until this morning—hooray for fairy dust."

Kimmy summoned food, two fish dinners. Katy smiled at her and dug in. "The good news is scan says her brain's all there and she should remember how to talk. She already knows 'no' but not her own name We'll talk to the official people tomorrow."

Mirta waved, "Miss Grizelda gave me a message for you. She knows someone in the navy—actually I think she knows lots of people in the navy, but she found someone who knows about the pirate ship. He's going to call tomorrow."

Katy looked relieved. "Oh good..."

Priscilla grinned, "I hear Grizelda used to be some kind of warrior woman before Miss F hired her."

"Seriously?" Lolina gasped.

"I believe it."

Mirta passed a piece of fish up to the kitten, who devoured it and settled down into a compact cat-shape to listen to the fairies.

The next day there was class, and worrying about the witches at Cloud Tower, who were still Valtor's prisoners though Valtor hadn't actually done anything with his captives in a few days. Professor Avalon decided it was time for a discussion on the psychology of evil and why Valtor might be enjoying having minions without actually making them do anything. The class made Mirta's head hurt. Having servants to do your chores, _that_ she understood, but having servants do nothing just did not make sense.

Katy and the kitten moved into Alice's empty room. After dinner Mirta and Hexen joined them there. Some blocks had been found, and Mirta stacked them in towers until the kitten got interested enough to take human form and build towers of her own. She built a little box and put a stuffed cat inside. Her home between the buildings. Then she figured out that if she stood a block on end by Hexen's tail, he'd obligingly knock it over and then she could laugh a lot. Mirta took down her block tower and started building a stone circle. She'd never been to a real one, so she could build one.

The crystal ball chimed and Katy scrambled over to answer it. "Yes? This is Alfea. I'm Katy Spika."

Mirta scooted around on the rug until she could see the caller. He looked like a soldier, not handsome but very official with his uniform jacket.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Katy. I'm Captain Montall of the ship _Constance,_ out of Fablemere station. Madam Grizelda told me about your adventure, and I think I have some answers for you."

Katy beckoned, and Mirta pointed at the hologram. The kitten stared at it, and swept her hand through the floating image.

The captain's eyes widened. "Oh merciful stars. I do know who that child's parents were."

Were. Mirta said, "C'mere kiddo, you don't need to hear all this."

But the kitten wanted to go back to her blocks. She actually said, "Blocks." Finally Mirta shrugged and decided to be as distracting as possible.

Understanding the situation Captain Montall shuffled some papers for a minute to give them time. Now he said, "You girls know that in modern times pirates are more like actors than thieves? They've found that pretending to attack ships is a much better job that actually doing so. One of the pirate captains in my patrol area was a man with a cat's head, called himself Captain Tom Cat."

Katy made a face. "He must not have been back to Mau in a while, to use a name as dumb as that."

"The records list his wife Marina and one child, Tabitha."

"What happened to them?"

"Captain Cat was a –a decent pirate, never hurt anyone, only stole from people who could afford having one less bag of gold. Then, out of the blue he stole a shipment of disaster supplies. My ship was ordered to pursue and reclaim the stolen goods. The pirate ship did not answer hails or halt to be boarded. By the time the ship began foundering in Kythera's gravity, we were too far behind to mount a rescue in time."

Katy let out a sharp sigh of horror, "Then..."

"There were no survivors. The baby must have been sent down in a pod that landed at some distance from the rest of the debris, and the current crew listing didn't mention the child being on board so nobody searched."

Mirta blinked. "Hang on, _pirates_ file a crew list with the navy?"

"Yes, miss. In case they need rescue."

The kitten knocked down her tower of blocks and grinned with pointy cat-teeth. She didn't understand that she was an orphan.

"Do you have any records that might help find the rest of her family?" Katy asked. She didn't look very hopeful.

The captain shook his head. "No family listed, not even a hometown for either parent. I'll send you a copy of the record. Maybe fairy magic can find something navy intelligence couldn't."

Katy sighed. "Thank you. It's better to know this much. At least we know what to _call_ her now."

"I'm sorry the news wasn't better. If anything new is discovered, someone will contact you." The captain saluted and after a few more polite words they closed the call.

Katy flopped back on the carpet. After a minute of silence she said, "Tabby?"

The kitten chirped agreement. Then, "Mom?"

"Katy." Katy said firmly.

The next day Tabby followed Katy to class then turned human, naked, in the middle of the lesson. Professor Avalon summoned clothes without missing a beat in his lecture. Katy put her head down on her desk and groaned.

After classes ended Mirta went with Katy and Tabby down to the Saint Erana Hospital for Foundlings. The building was surrounded by a beautiful garden, planted by Erana herself when she'd been alive. Inside the fairies met the caretaker assigned to Tabby's case, and there was a long overwhelming talk about legal custody and education and therapy and medical care and money. Katy wasn't old enough to be a guardian, but Faragonda had offered to be some kind of co-guardian so that was all right after all and Tabby could stay at Alfea as long as someone made sure she got a special teacher to help her start talking and got proper clothes and toys and everything.

Or Tabby could enter the orphanage system and be placed with a foster family either in Magix or in the realm of Mau, and she might get adopted or she might get passed around from home to home...

After an hour Mirta's eyes glazed over. Katy, sounding overwhelmed too, said, "Who knew rescuing her would be the easy part? Um, can we figure this out _slowly_?"

"Slowly is fine as long as Faragonda is vouching for you."

While the grownups, and Mirta felt very strange counting herself among the grownups, were talking, Tabby had found some pens and paper and was drawing pictures of fish. Hexen had turned up when nobody was looking, and sat beside her as if judging the art.

The next few days were... chaotic. Tabby tended to hide, steal food, and run around in cat form then shift to human without any clothes. Shifting with clothes was apparently something that took time to learn. Katy spent most of her time following the kitten around explaining things patiently. Mirta tried to help, since nobody should have to handle this much chaos all alone.

There was also the discovery that Katy, who was about the last person Mirta would've expected, knew about a million bedtime stories.

"...but the girl said, 'no way! A guy who thinks I can spin straw into gold is loopy, I don't want to marry him even if he is king! Can you help me get out of here instead?' But the little man couldn't. He was under a curse that made him forget his name and the rest of his magic. But if the girl could discover his name the curse would be broken. The little man stamped his foot and a great cave opened in the floor. While he spun the gold, the girl went down in the cave to search for the little man's true name..."

Suddenly Tabby said, "I forgot my name."

That was a long sentence, for her.

Mirta, sitting in Katy's desk chair with Hexen on her lap, said, "You're not under a curse, don't worry."

Tabby chirped contentedly.

"...The girl found a tree with many leaves, each with a name written on it. She brought back as many as she could carry, but none of them was the right name.

"The next day the king gave the girl an even bigger room full of straw to spin, and again the little man appeared and spun the straw while she searched for his true name. But again she could not find it."

Mirta's mind wandered, mixing the story with the homework she should have been doing. Nobody could really spin straw into gold, even alchemists who could make potions that blew up without adding magic, and people had been trying for a really long time.

"...the third day the king filled the great hall of the castle with straw and told the girl to spin it all or he'd throw her in the moat with the moat monsters. When the little man appeared he looked at the huge pile and said, 'Good grief!' While he spun, the girl went down into the cave and looked at the tree of names. She decided to climb it and get a name from the very top. But as she climbed she heard a voice singing, 'My curse my curse will never be broken, for who could guess the prince's name is... what is it?"

"Prince Professor Wizgiz." Mirta suggested.

"Ben." Said Tabby.

"Prince Ben. The girl climbed down the tree, quick as she could, and ran back up the cave into the castle. 'Your name is Ben!' she shouted. Then, poof! The spell was broken and the little man turned into a handsome man with wings. He used his magic to send the two of them to his castle far away. The girl didn't really want to go back to her own kingdom so the prince let her stay in the castle where there were lots of extra rooms. And after a while the girl and Prince Ben fell in love and she became a princess. And now it's time for sleep."

Tabby made a protesting noise, but cuddled down in her bed.

Mirta got up quietly, carrying her cat. She felt like going to bed too, but probably should try to get a little more homework done.

Katy had a fat folder about taking care of foster children, which she read at dinner. Mirta, sitting next to her, was watching the news about Cloud Tower, where everyone was still spelled and nothing was happening. Lolina tried to teach Tabby the names of foods.

"People our age sometimes have babies." Selene said, out of the blue.

"Maybe it's easier if you start with a baby, they can't run around school naked, they just eat and cry."

Tabby chose that moment to yowl in rising rage at Lolina's teaching attempt. Everyone in the cafeteria looked over at them. The wolf-fairy's ears popped up, but she didn't bark, thankfully.

Kimmy suggested, "Maybe it's part of your enchantix. You're certainly sacrificing peaceful meals."

"I just don't want to sacrifice my future. Who's going to give me a job with this weird kid around? But I can't just leave her with people we don't know..."

Priscilla was ignoring the drama and doing homework, as the rest of them should have been. Mirta was a few assignments behind in history and Arts of Rulership. Maybe she wouldn't get called on and Miss DuFour wouldn't find out she'd forgotten the entire class on how to address different types of royalty.

Livy coasted over, with Chatta hanging on behind her and whooping. Tabby giggled and reached for them. Lolina said, "Hey, got a Pixie of Language or something who'd want to bond with her?"

"The pixie bond is spiritual, not merely convenient!" Chatta answered. "Besides, underage fairies are not eligible. You're supposed to be our big sisters, not our babysitting jobs!"

"Sorry sorry." Lolina sounded more fascinated than sorry, actually.

"Do you have a message for someone, Livy?"

"Messages! Miss Grizelda would like to see you two cat-fairies in her office after dinner. And there is a boy outside to see Mirta. But not the usual one."

Well that was mysterious. And the note, which just said, "I'm outside, can I talk to you for a minute?" was not in handwriting she recognized. "Hmm. I'd better go see." She dumped her leftovers and headed out the big front doors. Outside it was night, cold, and the garden's magical lights were on. The pixie critters, all wearing little knitted hats and scarves, were dozing on top of a hedge. Looking at them was a figure in Balthazar-uniform black.

"Jess? What's up, is everything all right?"

"Oh, yeah, we're fine, everything's fine."

He did not sound completely fine. "So..?" Mirta prompted.

"I was just worried... did Keith ever tell you where he's from?"

"No. He just says he's 'mysterious.'" Mirta said. "He let slip the seventh son thing on our trip but he didn't say anything else."

Jess nodded. "_Nobody_ knows where he lived before he showed up in front of the school."

Mirta blinked, and several thoughts fought to be first in her mind. "Really nobody? Even your headmaster? If he's anything like Miss F or Miss Griffin..."

"Professor Balthazar, who knows what he knows. But... I was there when Keith first arrived. He was—he was skinny and dressed in old clothes like the hospital gives out to poor people, and evil magic was coming off him in clouds so thick you could see it."

"I can't believe that Keith..." Mirta managed.

"Oh, he hadn't been _doing_ bad magic, Professor Balthazar would've caught that. Keith's not a bad guy, he's my best friend. I trust him. But I don't know what he might be mixed up in and neither does anyone else. Since you two have been doing a lot of kissing lately, I thought you should know."

"I... yeah, I should know. Thanks." Mirta said, trying to make what she'd just heard fit with the boyfriend she'd known for months. "Maybe it's just sad, maybe his family doesn't like him or they died or something."

"Well they sure haven't called or written in the past year so maybe. The other thing—it's good news—Donovan says they're invading Cloud Tower in a few days. The cops finally got tired of an evil wizard holding one of our schools hostage, and Saladin volunteered his students."

Mirta smiled in relief. "Oh good! I've been so worried! Donovan—he's your, um, friend? Can he keep an eye out for Lucy?"

"Already asked him to. So he'll call me, or you, someone will call someone and we'll keep you updated."

"Thank you!" On impulse, she hugged Jess, who laughed.

"Hey, I gave you half bad news remember."

"Yeah. I'll have to... figure out what to do about that. You think he's in trouble?"

"Yes. Every so often he says something about how he wants our help but never explains."

"Maybe... I don't know. I'll think about it."

Mirta and Katy got back at the same time. Katy looked thoughtful and little Tabby was pouting.

"So? News?" Priscilla looked back and forth between them.

Mirta shrugged. "Nothing important."

"Miss Grizelda had a message from Tabby's grandfather. Who's a pirate."

"Seriously?" Lolina said.

"For real?" Kimmy added, looking excited.

"He said Tabby's mom was his daughter. He wants to meet us, to thank us for rescuing her. And give us a pile of gold. Meeting's on the luxury interdimensional cruise ship _Queen Apolla 2_ parked in orbit over Solaria. And it smells a little fishy."

Tabby's ears perked at the word 'fishy.'

Mirta could think of a few uses for a pile of gold, especially if Tabby was going to stay with them, she needed more clothes and an expensive doctor to teach her to talk. "Did he say he wants her to live with him?"

"Not in those exact words or... not at all really. Maybe he just assumed. Grandparents would be next in line to raise an orphan after all. And I'm not the most suitable guardian." Katy's face tightened a little.

Selene said, "Sure you're suitable—she talks and wears clothes now, after a week! And you were the first person to realize the kid was, well, a _person_."

"Anyway. According to the official caretaker, we have to meet this guy and see if he's a suitable guardian. There's extra tickets so—who wants to come?"

"On a cruise ship? Who doesn't!" Lolina chirped. "Anyway, maybe I could do a finding spell to find relatives so I could make sure he's the real grandpa. So, do we get clothes for the cruise?"

Katy grinned.

They were taking a portal onto the _Queen Apolla_, and would only be there for a day, but it was important to fit in. The luxury liner's captain had specifically asked that the fairies not cause a ruckus among her royal passengers. So they had to look like princesses.

Stella volunteered, talking nonstop about "cool colors, pastels, earth tones, no no no that does not suit your skintone at all! Maybe this one..." and stories about interdimensional cruises she'd been on with her parents. She's even been on the same ship—apparently it had three swimming pools, a complete spa, an indoor aeroslam court and the option to put on a suit and ether-ski behind the ship, which Stella's parents hadn't let her do.

Mirta just stood and listened while her clothes magically changed color and shape. She didn't quite have the guts to make any suggestions. After half an hour they were all in outfits appropriate for royalty on a cruise.

"Don't princesses ever wear pants?" Selene asked. She was wearing a dress a shade darker than her hair and solid with sequins.

"Not on a cruise, where they expect to do nothing more strenuous than dance, lie around, and eat sweets! And have your parents try to set you up with all the eligible princes on board. Ask Miky, I've seen her on these things. You guys should have a great time."

Lolina, ruffled in layers of purple satin, bounced happily.

"Thanks Stella." Katy said. She was dressed in cream and tan, looking very grown up. Tabby was in black, since wearing the same color as her fur made it easier for her to shapeshift with her clothes, but Stella had somehow managed to make black adorable.

Mirta's dress was heavy green silk, delightfully swishy with lots of beading up the front and a really low neckline. Maybe she could get a real, nonmagical version made. These clothes, alas, were made of magic and would disappear at midnight. Priscilla, in green and Kimmy, in blue, were grinning and twirling. The magic had changed Kimmy's hair, freeing loops and curls from her bun. She looked somehow more princess-like than the rest of them.

And they fit right in. The cruise ship was amazing, it looked like a castle, all white marble and gold and crew members in uniforms with shiny buttons running back and forth. The ship was probably larger that the grounds of Alfea, with decks stacked on decks, the top one open to the stars overhead with magic holding air around it. Looking down over the rail Mirta saw the ship's wings glittering with small cloth-of-gold sails.

And the decks were full of beautiful people, royalty from different realms all in their most impressive clothes.

Mirta felt like a total commoner. Selene said, "This is the kind of people Sterling hangs out with."

Katy offered, "Yeah, but I bet he doesn't have as much fun hanging out with them as with us."

It was nice of her to say, but looking around there was a lot of fun available. People were coming and going through two dedicated portals to the planet below. There were tables piled with food, and several different dance floors with magic around them to muffle the music. The spa must be inside somewhere.

"We need to stay out here. We are expecting a visit from pirates..."

"I don't think we'll miss them." Kimmy said with a little grin.

Tabby watched a group of brightly dressed royal children who were ignoring their elders to play some kind of running-around game. Mirta realized this might be the first time Tabby had really seen kids her own age, since she hadn't started school yet. Katy waved her over, "Go say hello, if you want."

Slowly, Tabby detached herself from the fairies and, with much hesitation, went to join the game.

Lolina grabbed Kimmy and Priscilla and dragged them towards the nearest dance floor. Mirta was more interested in people-watching. She'd already recognized two famous faces from Arts of Rulership class, one of them Queen Luna herself, Lady of the Moon and ex-queen of Solaria. She looked like a taller, paler version of Stella.

Selene leaned on the rail next to Mirta. "I'm afraid to move, they'll know I'm not royalty by how I walk."

Mirta and Katy both nodded, understanding the feeling. Katy kept shifting from watching Tabby to looking up at the sky.

An older man in a suit and a younger one in velvet and ermine strolled past, talking about trade agreements. The young man glanced their way and smiled at Katy with charisma that left her momentarily mute.

Mirta leaned over and whispered, "Me-yow?"

Katy giggled. "Why aren't there more guys like that in Magix?"

"'Cause the guys in Magix wear real clothes and leave their crowns at home. Go talk to him."

"Nah, he's busy. And so are we. Look."

Mirta didn't see anything for a long minute, then her human eyes saw what Katy's already had. The stars were going out, more and more of them, as something descended from space.

Then the dark mass was on their level and it was a pirate ship. The sails rippled with light and pirates in traditional coats and hats swarmed the ropes. Mirta gaped.

The people around them were cheering and laughing like it was a show. And really, it was. The pirate ship pulled alongside and pirates on ropes swung over to land on deck. They brandished energy swords at the rich people. Selene grinned and whispered, "Practice swords."

Tabby raced over to hide next to Katy, and the other fairies returned a bit disappointed from the dance floor.

The pirates' victims seemed to be having fun. They shrieked in delighted terror. Some ran inside to watch through the windows, others handed over jewels or money, and a few ladies pretended to faint into the arms of their boyfriends. It was better than a play.

"This look familiar, Tabbycat?" Lolina asked.

Tabby was all eyes, looking around Katy at the action. She was grinning widely. "Daddy. Clothes. Did he come back?"

"Not him sweetie, maybe some friends of his. But stay with us, ok?"

The pirate captain landed on deck, his sword flashing, and strode towards them. He was magnificent, huge beard, huge feather in his hat, grinning imp on his shoulder.

"Fairies!" He roared, "Hand over your loot!"

"We didn't bring any." Kimmy said, not very loudly.

"Is this my grand-daughter then? Is this Tabitha?" He reached forward and Tabby ducked away, but she usually did that with strangers.

Katy stepped forward. "I'm Katy Spika, Tabby's guardian. Would you like to go somewhere and talk?"

"Absolutely! Come aboard! I'm Captain Davey, named after the spirit of the depths though me and mine prefer the depths of space!"

A gangplank now connected the two ships, and Mirta was amused to see that the crews of the two ships were hanging out together, neat uniformed crew members and ragged pirates chatting and stuffing themselves at the buffet.

The captain's cabin was all it should have been: charts on the wall, spyglass, and a bit of treasure scattered around. The girls gawked, unashamed.

Mirta looked at a picture of a black-haired pirate woman. "Is this your daughter, sir?"

"My Marina." The captain sobered behind his beard. "I was so happy when she chose the pirate's life, and never so sad as when she left the ship to get married. I can hardly believe she's gone forever. But at least her last gift to the world survived! Miss Katy, fairies, I learned what you did for Tabitha. Thank you. A hundred times thank you. Please accept these small tokens of my gratitude."

He passed around gold coins. Real ones. Mirta looked at hers, visions of real silk dresses dancing in her head.

"Th-thank you!" Katy stuttered a bit in surprise. "Tabby needs a lot of—this'll help. Ah, anyway, here's the folder the foundling hospital gave me to give to you. If you want Tabby to live with you you'll have to come to Magix and fill out forms and stuff."

And prove a big, exuberant pirate would make a good parent, but Katy didn't say that.

Captain Davey opened the folder with his big hands and looked at the papers inside, then at Tabby. The little girl had found a big brass compass on the desk and wrapped her hands around it. The compass' hologram popped up with a three-dimensional view of local space. Tabby chirped happily and ran her fingers through the hologram. "Planet ho, galactic up." She whispered.

"Well little lady, would you like to stay on this ship? Sail the skies with Grandpa?"

Tabby's yellow eyes widened. "Can we? Really?"

Katy flinched. "Maybe. Grandpa has to do the official stuff first. And you still have to go to school!"

Tabby scowled.

The captain said slowly, "Or... we could ship out now. Leave all this hassle in the dust, set course for the sunset... you fairies too. Want to join the crew? You'd make fine pirates."

Selene and Priscilla laughed because they would, and Kimmy and Lolina laughed because they wouldn't. Mirta was briefly tempted. The ship was so cool looking and it would be fun to just go where they wanted, visit all the different worlds...

Katy giggled, "Sorry, we have to go back to school."

"Sure I can't tempt you? This is a fine life, all of you could live like princesses."

Mirta realized he was serious. He really meant for them to join the pirate crew. Which was flattering, but weird. Then she heard the faint creak of wood. "Are we moving?"

The captain suddenly wasn't smiling. The mood in the room went chill. Lolina whispered, "S-seriously?"

"I'm afraid, ladies, that the chance to have six fairies as my slaves is simply too good to let go." and he pulled out a pistol and pointed it at them.

Selene, who knew about weapons, froze.

Priscilla echoed, "_Seriously?_ We're being pressganged?"

"Think of it as a job offer. The little one stays here. I think she'd like to."

Tabby's eyes flicked back and forth. Her small face had gone unreadable. Katy snarled.

The room was suddenly full of pirates, who shoved heavy manacles over the girls' hands. There were no chains but the bracelets were heavy and full of some kind of magic.

"Stone from Shadowhaunt. Can't have my new recruits flying away! Now please, into the hold until we're in space."

There was some yelling and hitting, but they were outnumbered and shortly found themselves tossed into the dark room at the bottom of the ship. A barred hatch clanked down overhead.

Mirta pulled herself out of the pile of her friends. "Kidnapped by pirates. I'll write to Orion about this and he won't believe me."

Kimmy tugged on the bracelet on her wrist, trying to get it off. "This thing weighs a ton."

"Yeah, and it's full of negative energy. Can any of you transform?"Selene asked.

Mirta grinned and pulled her bracelet off. "Witches are fine in Shadowhaunt. Let me see if I can get yours off."

"We could get out of here with a convergence spell." Kimmy said, "But he has a hostage."

"Give it a minute."

"A minute's all we've got—if we get into space we can't fly back!"

"That's what captain kidnapper is counting on."

Mirta was trying bits of magic on Selene's bracelet. She tried commanding it with all her witchyness to let go, but that didn't work. She tried pouring good thoughts at it in hopes of filling up whatever emptiness that made it suck magic, but that didn't work either. Then she had a thought, tried a simple spell, and the stone ring cracked into pieces.

Selene gave a little happy squeak and rubbed her wrist.

"How did you do that?"

"Mine next—it feels slimy!"

"They're just rock..."

Mirta broke Lolina's bracelet, then Kimmy's.

"Can you believe the Winx stayed transformed in a cave made of this stuff?"

"I bet we could do it with some practice." Priscilla said. She put her hand against the wooden wall of their prison and the board split down the middle and grew a small leaf. She reached up towards the ceiling and more sprouts appeared around the hinges of the hatch. "Well, we can get out anytime!"

Katy sighed in relief as her bracelet broke off. "How are you doing that? Witchy power?"

Mirta grinned. "A spell to break things. One of the first ones you learn at Cloud Tower!"

There was a meow from above and the heavy compass dropped through the bars, followed by Tabby's kitten form. "Mine!" She chirped.

Katy picked up the compass and put it in her pocket. "Sure."

"You'll teach her stealing is ok!"

"Tabby, you can't take things unless it's from someone who tries to kidnap us. Ok?"

"Mine." Tabby agreed.

Mirta wondered what the caretaker from Magix would think about this bit of parenting. "C'mere baby, I think we're leaving."

"Everybody ready? Ok, fairy magic convergence!"

Mirta transformed fast, wrapped a shield around herself and Tabby, and followed the others through the hole in the ceiling.

There were a lot of pirates with pistols, all yelling and very unhappy with the huge hole in their ship. Priscilla was doing her thing, making the deck sprout. Kimmy threw another shield around all of them. "We need to leave!"

The cruise ship was a dizzying distance below, tiny against the pale glow of the planet. Everything looked so far away, like they could miss the ship, miss the planet, and fall into space. Tabby whined and dug her claws into Mirta's shirt.

Captain Davey appeared on deck, beard wild, shouting and pointing. He shot at them, bolts from the pistol splashing against their shield. They sank past the pirate ship, past the cannon ports and the hull, then it was above them and the decks of the _Queen Apolla_ were rising from below.

The pirates' ether cannons roared, and something at the back of the cruise ship exploded and streamed smoke.

They landed into chaos. Alarms were going off, people were screaming, and the deck was tilted at a worrying angle. The crew was directing passengers to the portals or the lifeboats.

"Fairies, over here!" Called a woman in a fancy uniform, with a holographic computer display in front of her. "I'm captain of this ship—and it's sinking. Can you help?"

"What should we do?" Selene asked.

"Biggest danger right now is tilting—too much and the portals will lose alignment. And we need repairs and crowd control."

The two portals were crackling ominously as people shoved and crowded into them. Kimmy pulled open a bubble of changed time and wrapped it around the nearer portal. "Ok, it'll work faster now. I'll get the other one."

Priscilla and Selene flew off towards the tail section to try and do repairs. The pirate ship was leaving, that was good news anyway.

The ship lurched suddenly, sending Mirta and Katy stumbling. Tabby wailed and Mirta whispered comforting nonsense. She summoned her gloomix and called a wind to help lift the ship, but it wasn't helping much. The damage must be pretty bad.

Katy said, "Loli, can you grab the wings?" Then a panicked passenger shoved Kimmy and Katy surged towards her, transforming to her enchantix panther as she did. "Back off! She's helping you get down safely!"

Lolina flicked her arms out and rings appeared around the ship's wings. She frowned, her charmix glowing. "Heavier than—oof!"

The deck rocked again, and started shaking. The captain's computer display went red. "We've hit the atmosphere."

The lifeboats detached, falling upward.

"Is everyone going to get out in time?"

There were still a lot of people, hanging onto each other and trying not to panic as they waited to get to a portal. The crew members were hanging back. They'd go last, Mirta realized.

"There's time if the portals hold. How many people can you each carry?"

"Maybe five each." Mirta said. The slow-fall spell was hard.

They could hear the wind now. Lolina called, "Guys?"

Mirta and Katy ran over to her. "What can we do?"

"Nothing. Just be here." There was an unvoiced 'because I'm scared' in her tone.

"We're here." Katy said. Tabby added a scared little, "Me too." from where she'd crammed herself inside Mirta's shirt.

"The problem... in a nutshell..." Lolina said between breaths, as magic arced between the rings of her dress, "Is that we're sinking.. instead of falling... because of me. Nobody can help because... nobody else knows gravity manipulation. And I'm getting _tired!_"

The ship shuddered and creaked, and Lolina's hands tightened on the invisible threads connecting to the rings holding the ship steady.

Mirta looked around in panic for something she could do. Her pet wind was doing its best to keep the ship steady, but it wasn't in air's nature to support solid objects. She could carry a few people down with the slow-fall spell, but that was all. And her brain was chattering about that because it was trying not to think that Lolina really was in danger of burning out her magic trying to keep the ship steady.

The way Kimmy had described it was, "You're thinking 'just a little more' and then you're waking up in the infirmary." But if you were unlucky you might wake up having lost your magic _forever_. Or you might not wake up at all.

"Loli..." Katy whispered, and nudged her big cat self up behind Lolina comfortingly. Mirta glanced back at the line of frightened people.

"I can do it." Lolina said through clenched teeth. The rings in her costume had started to go out.

Katy looked at Mirta in desperation. The shaking of the ship was now so strong that people were falling down. Mirta took to her wings, Tabby clinging to her. "Katy, I've got Tabby if you guys need to do something."

Katy nodded.

"No—I can do this—I can hold it!" Lolina's charmix exploded. She screamed and suddenly the ship was falling, tumbling wildly as a storm of sparks and lightning covered everything.

Mirta had no attention for anything but the suddenly panicking, clawing child hanging onto her shirt.

So she missed the moment when sparks and plasma shaped into wings and Lolina got her enchantix. She just knew that the chaos ended, the ship stabilized, and everyone who was left started cheering.

Selene and Priscilla returned. "We sort of patched the tail, but it's just a spell so it won't last. Can you land?"

The captain of the liner was looking pale and relieved she wasn't going to have to go down with her ship. She summoned her computer display and took the wheel. "The port's not far, we can make an emergency landing."

Lolina had fallen to her knees, her new outfit flickering in and out as she tried to get her breath. "I did it!...that was really scary."

"That was great." Mirta said, trying to ignore the usual prick of jealousy. Lolina's green and white costume looked really cool. Her wings glowed green neon with faceted gems hanging off them.

"Hey, I've got goggles. Cool." Lolina pulled them over her eyes and looked around.

Kimmy, back in her princess dress, came over to them. "That was fun. Congratulations."

Lolina grinned and put her arm around her friend, "Aren't you looking forward to yours?"

"If I get to be a hero, absolutely."

"Yeah... hero... gives me a whole new appreciation for class back home. Whoever thought I'd miss Professor Wizgiz' lectures?"


	20. Chapter 20

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 20

About half the school had their enchantix forms by now, but the thrill of seeing them didn't wear off, Mirta thought. Everyone was up on the roof again, hanging out by the light of the full moon. It was nearly Midwinter, and cold, but someone had put a dome of warm air over the roof just for tonight.

Kylie had just gotten her transformation, on a trip Mirta hadn't heard the details of yet. Something about saving people, and international shipping, from a kraken. The magic seemed to recognize Kylie's love of skimpy clothes; her enchantix outfit was barely there. In the moonlight her bare skin gleamed like pearls. Kylie looked more like herself than before, like all the good parts of her personality were showing.

Along with, "But guys won't be looking at you, they'll be looking at your booty." Karina said.

"Which is fiiiine with me!" Kylie twirled, unrepentant.

On another section of the roof Selene, Priscilla, Aisha and Francis were playing an elaborate game that involved throwing balls to each other without warning. Tabby was enjoying walking on the very edge of the roof, which was making Katy very twitchy even though Tabby had probably done scarier things in her old home and never fallen. Lolina was studying, and Kimmy had summoned a complex device from somewhere and she and Tecna were trying to put it together. Mirta was supposed to be studying, but watching the building was more interesting. Kimmy's bun had come undone, and her hair hung almost to her knees. She pulled her head out of a panel in the device and said, "Don't tell me they sent the wrong power converter!"

Tecna spun the machine in her direction and looked in, thought for a minute, whistled for Digit, and the two of them poked around for a minute. "Ah! I think I see the problem. These three wires, are you sure they're plugged in right?"

Kimmy summoned the manual and it turned out they weren't and that was the problem.

When they next surfaced, Lolina waved at Kimmy. "I think I speak for us all when I ask, what _is_ it?"

Kimmy cleared her throat shyly. "A new prototype Dad sent me, a holographic phone."

"A phone that takes up a whole table?"

"Wait until you see what it does." Kimmy promised. "But not until tomorrow, the other unit has to be set up too."

On the subject of phones, Mirta pulled hers out. Lucy had called her a week ago to say she was fine, the witches had recovered from Valtor's spell with no lasting harm. But Lucy had refused to come over, or turn the camera in her phone on. Mirta kept waiting to hear what that was all about. No message. She put away her phone and went back to petting her cat and watching the fairies, wishing she could sparkle too. She'd been useful on their last adventure, but mostly by taking care of Tabby. Babysitting. Not real hero stuff. Mirta knew this shouldn't bother her, but it did anyway.

There were ways to become more powerful. Practice, which she was already doing. Making more deals with the great forces of the universe. Signing up for mystical ordeals to win more power, but from what Professor Avalon had said, those were pretty terrifying. Or... steal it.

Oleanna was talking, louder than she needed to, finishing some kind of story."So the fairy carried the witch across the pit, but halfway there the witch cursed the fairy and her wings froze. The fairy asked why, since they would both sink now. The witch said, 'because it's my nature.' then they sank into the hydra pit and got eaten."

"Why don't you do something about her?" Lolina asked.

"Like what?"

"Curse her."

"That'd just prove her right."

"Beat her up."

"I can't beat up a first-year!" Mirta laughed. "Seriously, Loli. She just talks, it's not like anybody believes her."

The Trix had discovered the secret room in the Cloud Tower library, and borrowed a few of the forbidden books. They'd showed one to Zia, and she'd passed it around. It was a nasty book, lots of stuff about how the Three Ancestors were the perfect witches and everybody should try to be like them, and how witches should rule all nonwitches, with a few spells and curses in between the ranting. One was a recipe for a permanent love potion. One was a spell to cast someone into eternal sleep. One was a spell for stealing a fairy's wings. It wasn't even a hard spell, didn't need any ingredients, just magic and desire and a little chanting you could do in your head.

Of course Mirta wasn't going to do it. Hurting people wasn't exactly her thing. But if she had been that kind of terrible person, maybe the stolen wings would have become part of her real wings and then she'd be able to use fairy dust. It would probably work that way. Except someone evil couldn't make fairy dust anyway...

She shook herself. That book had made her want to scrub her brain, she couldn't believe she was thinking about spells from it just because she was jealous and Oleanna was being annoying.

At breakfast the next morning, Kimmy's giant phone was finished. It seemed to need more than one bedroom's space, and she'd commandeered quite a large section of the cafeteria. She was talking into her small phone, telling whoever was on the other end how to set up the other phone. At last it was ready. The phone projected a cloudy sphere, which cleared to show-

"Alice!"

Alice waved at them, and turned slowly around. "I can see everyone. Kimmy, this is amazing. Hi guys!"

There was a chorus of "Hi" back. Alice looked great. Her long hair was braided and she was wearing one of her nice sweaters. Around her they could see the translucent ghosts of objects. The hologram came into focus and they could see an icebox with a silver pitcher sitting on it, a mirror with jewels in the frame, and a tapestry hanging over Alice's bed. It was like a palace in a cave.

"No way, the dragon lets you use its treasure?"

Alice grinned and flourished her hands at the riches around her. "As long as it stays in the cave it's all right. I can't take anything home later though. Oh, I miss all of you! And Alfea! What's been happening? Do you all have your enchantix by now?"

Everyone crowded around, and there was a babble of stories. Tabby was enticed from under the table and introduced, and the story of the pirates was told with great enthusiasm.

After the rush of news died down someone asked how Alice was doing. She chuckled, "I'm teaching a creature the size of the school how to use a computer, and doing a lot of babysitting."

Zendy appeared in the image, followed by a baby dragon with glowing red scales. It was a _baby_, but it was not _small_. It was the size of a very big dog, and came up to Alice's chest when it playfully leaned against her. She gave it a hug around the neck, "This is Ruby, since I have to call her something until she grows up and gets a real dragon name. Isn't she cute?"

She was, in a clumsy sort of way with her snubby nose and big flared ears. Red wings were tucked tight to the dragon's sides and she bounced eagerly as she looked around at the fairies. Mirta waved and said, "Hi Ruby."

Alice sat down on her bed, the baby dragon's head resting in her lap. "The dragon was watching over her egg, and she finally hatched. There's a lot to do, helping take care of Ruby and talking to the people. I feel like I've met every mayor and president in the realm! And none of them want a dragon living here and the only reason they're not calling out the army is that I'm here. It's a very high pressure job!"

Her pixie interrupted, "Which you're doing wonderfully!"

"Maybe, but a knight attacked us two weeks ago and I had to be the one to fight him off just to be sure he made it home in one piece! Do you think any other fairies have to use their hard-won enchantix powers to deal with idiots bent on getting themselves fried?"

"Probably." was Priscilla's opinion.

"Can we come help?" Selene offered. "I can beat up knights."

Alice shook her head, "I think people are impressed that it's just me and Zendy. Because we haven't been eaten it proves the dragon is peaceful. More fairies would mess that up. But I miss you guys a lot! The dragon is good company, but he's a different species after all."

"Well now you can call anytime." Kimmy said. "I think I can get the projection to work in our room too, if Tecna will help with shrinking the area, then we can all study together just like before."

Alice's face glowed with pleasure at the idea.

Mirta dumped her cat into a box. It was a big box, with airholes, prepared just for this experiment. She closed the top, sat on it, and continued the latest letter to Orion.

_We still have the pirate gold, but it turns out to be cursed. Figuring out which curse took about a week of mixing different potions and dripping them on the coins, one by one, until one of them fizzed, and THEN we had to take them to the bank so the bank's wizard could do more tests._ _The curse will cause anything we buy for ourselves to turn against us. So no goodies for us. But we can use it to buy stuff for other people, so it's going to be a great Midwinter! _

Mirta paused to look into the box. Hexen looked back and meowed.

_My teachers liked the lecture you sent, Professor Avalon and Professor Palladium both wrote notes on it about what they think Red Fountain students want to hear about. I think they'll just want to hear about your adventures._

_ (I've visited six realms so far in my life, how many for you?)_

_We're all home for finals before Midwinter break. Everyone's trying to study and go shopping for Midwinter gifts at the same time. I'm also investigating my cat. He seems to have magical powers. He can see through invisibility spells, even Professor Avalon's paladin invisibility. And he turns up in all sorts of places... _

Mirta checked again. No cat.

_...and can get out of a box without going through the door. Professor Palladium and Katy have an official opinion: that Hexen is on his second life, and in the first one his owner was a witch or wizard who gave him his extra legs, and he still had them when he was reborn. Stuff like that stays through a cat's nine lives, apparently._

_ We saw Alice—a baby dragon hatched! It looks like the big dragon, but it's the size of a dog, and red instead of gold. So the intelligent dragons are a little less rare than they were. When you come back to Magix we can use the hologram phone to see it._

Near the mall entrance Keith gazed thoughtfully up at the hologram of the midwinter procession of white bears and great deer with holly crowns. The mayor had changed the weather spells and it was snowing in the city as dusk fell. Mirta was wearing her floppy green hat. Keith had acquired a tasteful blue scarf and looked even more handsome than usual.

They wandered through the mall, arm in arm. Mirta had a lot of gifts to buy, and her pirate gold had turned into a decent amount of real money, and she soon had a pile of things sent back to Alfea. Books for her parents, a magic jewel Selene wanted for some project, toys for Tabby and a talent spell for Lolina who wanted to try playing the flute. Keith wasn't buying anything, and seemed happy to offer opinions and just look around.

"Did you already do your shopping for your folks?" Mirta asked.

"Already shipped." he said casually.

It sounded like he was lying. But why would anyone lie about Midwinter shopping? "So you're not going home?"

"I hope I'll get to see my family in the spring, but for the holiday Jess asked if I wanted to come to Solaria with him. So what do you and your family do?"

"The usual, eat lots of cookies. Decorate the trees." Mirta gestured at a display of nuts and berries on long strings. "Then on Longest Night we sing... you can hear it, the temples here have the singing too for people who don't have a family to be with."

"Families and cookies and music, sounds good. The fairies too?"

"Witches celebrate the Longest Night, fairies celebrate the Return of the Sun, but we mostly do the same stuff. So what traditions do you have where you come from?"

Keith paused a minute then said, "A big feast. By this time we'd know how many animals we could feed until spring, so we'd eat the rest. Lots of work to cook and preserve everything, but there's plenty to eat and it's a party so—good week."

"No presents?"

"There's not a lot of... things... back home." He grinned, looking around the mall with its shops and booths and colorful shiny _things_ in every direction.

They paused in front of a cart selling crystals and stones ready to be enchanted. Mirta patted a smooth green stone as long as her arm.

"I could totally make that come alive." Keith said with a little grin.

"No way."

"Totally could. Seventh son. Want me to?"

Mirta laughed. "Only if you can afford to buy it 'cause I can't. Hang on, come alive into what? It's just a blob."

"That's why, to see what shape it would choose."

"Showoff."

"Jess says if you've got it, show it off. Hey—over there."

Mirta had been noticing, on the edges of her brain, that there seemed to be a lot of girls with really great hair hanging around. Girls from Cloud Tower. Keith nodded at one, with shining greeny-black hair down to her knees, who was looking in the window of a dance shop. She turned, and it was Lucy.

Mirta rushed over, laughing. "Ok, now I know why you wouldn't turn on the picture on your phone!"

Lucy grinned. Her hair, which had fallen in her face like limp seaweed now curled in perfect shining tendrils.

"Wait, let me guess. Stormy made everyone cut their hair so Miss Griffin sent you here to the salon to get your hair fixed and you told the stylist it was this long."

Lucy's smile turned wicked. "Zia is mad, now she doesn't have the best hair anymore."

"Did she yell, when she realized?"

"Oh yeah. I was sitting there trying to figure out what day it was and Zia saw her reflection and screamed like a banshee. Ha! But I'd like to thank Stormy—now I can do the hair ballet."

"Can you? Really? Weren't you using a spell before?"

Lucy bounced on her toes, took two steps, and twirled. Her newly long hair swung around her in a perfect spiral. A few people clapped.

"So what were you looking at?"

Lucy pointed at the window. It was a leotard and little skirt that seemed to be made of liquid silver. It would look amazing with her new hair. Lucy sighed, "Would it make me look too much like a fairy?"

"Not on stage. Everyone's supposed to look like a fairy on stage." Mirta squinted until she saw the price, pulled that much from her pirate money, and handed it over. "Happy Midwinter. Do you have anything to wear it in? Nevermind, buy it anyway."

Lucy's thin face lit up, "Really? Well there's—there was an audition, an amateur company wants to do _The Crown of Domino_ but they don't have anyone for Miss Griffin's part."

"Go for it! You'd be perfect. It'd just be wrong to let a fairy play Miss Griffin."

"I agree." Keith said from behind her.

Lucy looked from one to the other. "Ooh, is this a date?"

Mirta started to say no but Keith said, "Yes, absolutely. One hundred percent a date. Also shopping—well, Mirta is. We're just leaving, or you could wander with us."

It was a sincere invitation, and, Mirta thought, very sweet. But Lucy shook her head, "I'm going to buy this then go get Shilly to take my picture and post to the audition site. Thank you!"

"You're welcome. Knock 'em dead."

Lucy was... prettier, Mirta decided as she tucked her arm through Keith's and they wandered on. The new hair suited her. Smiling suited her. If she really got to be a dancer like she wanted...

"There's a lot of amazing in Lucy." Keith said as he held open the door and let them out into the snow. "More in you, of course."

Mirta laughed, and spread her arms to the weather. Snowflakes tumbled through the air, happy to land on her but somehow never piling up in the parking lot.

"So you want to catch the bus or..?"

"Fly home." Mirta said immediately. "I love flying in snow."

"Suits me."

Mirta summoned her magic and the wintery air filled with the smell of summer evenings. She turned, breathing it in, and felt her other clothes swirl into being around her body. Her wings unfolded from her back, snowflakes tingling against them like bubbles in soda.

"You're not cold?"

"I'm warmer this way. Protective field. Or else we'd wear armor to fight like the heroes from Red Fountain." Mirta fluttered higher, twirling around, while Keith strolled up the air after her. They looked down on the mall, shoppers coming in and out, cars and buses coming and going.

"What's it feel like?" Keith asked. "I can change my clothes, but guys don't transform."

Mirta spun idly, thinking. "Like... dancing. Like when the music sort of lifts you up and you know how to move. And like swimming in soda water."

Keith smiled at the second part, but nodded. "That makes sense. It looks like you're dancing. Look at that..."

They'd reached a height where they could look out over the city. Magix was beautiful in the snow. Windows glowed with warm light and each streetlight was haloed with falling flakes. Night had fallen but the clouds reflected the city and it was light enough to read where they stood above the rooftops. Keith stopped to look and Mirta landed next to him on empty air. They just looked for a minute, while snowflakes caught in their hair.

Keith pulled out something that shone softly. "Happy Midwinter."

Mirta squeaked happily. It was a rounded dark green stone on a cord. She tied it around her neck and the stone clinked against her crystal necklace.

"It's called a moss stone. Matches your eyes."

Mirta's thoughts went delightfully scrambled. "You noticed my eyes?"

"Been told it's a boyfriend's duty."

By Jess, probably, but Mirta was busy noticing Keith's eyes now, dark brown and bright with warmth and humor.

Then they were kissing, and time slowed and snowflakes shivered off her wings. It was so delightfully warm and chill and Mirta didn't want to ever stop. But, slowly, she remembered feeling troubled and wanting to ask, "Your family, that's part of the whole 'I'm mysterious' thing? Are you going to tell me someday?"

"Yes." Keith answered immediately, his gaze suddenly sharp and worried.

"It's that bad?"

"Yes."

"Can I help?"

"Yes. Another... few months. Before graduation, I'll tell everybody..." His arms tightened around her in what felt like a search for comfort, but then he smiled and said, "But we're here now and I'd rather spend now kissing you until my brain melts."

Mirta, to her own surprise, was in total agreement with that plan.

"And Mirta? I'm being mysterious because, well, reasons. But I'm being honest about everything else. School, the guys, you. That's honest."

And Mirta believed him.

She floated home. "Hex, I'm in love!"

"Mew?"

Mirta scooped up the cat, twirled him around, and plopped down in her chair. "Well, I think so. How do I know?" Selene ha\d seemed to know pretty fast, Bloom and Flora too. But if she was, what to do next? It wasn't like they were going to get married now, while they were still in school...

Her giddy, increasingly silly train of thought was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Mirta!" Kimmy burst in.

Mirta blinked. Kimmy's hair was cropped short, and for a minute that seemed weird. Why did it seem like Kimmy should have long hair up in a bun? Her hair had always been short, she refused to grow it out.

"Do I look normal to you?"

"Sure, same as breakfast—why do I keep thinking your hair should be long?"

"Good, you're not affected. Come on."

"Um..." Mirta managed as she was dragged out of her room.

"There's been a temporal inversion."

"What?"

"Someone's changed history!"

"What?" Mirta repeated, her brain struggling to make the leap from lovestruck mode to emergency mode.

"The history of my entire planet is screwed up, which means my history too. I'm not supposed to be half bald, my family's not supposed to be dirt poor, I don't have an older brother in jail and—I don't usually talk this much do I?"

"...calm down because I don't understand anything you said?" Mirta managed as they arrived at Kimmy and Selene's room. The other girls were waiting, looking confused.

Selene looked a little strange too. Mirta's memory couldn't decide if she should be wearing that much makeup or not.

"What in the realms is going on, Kim?"

"History has been changed, the whole history of my home planet, from the beginning!" Kimmy flopped a big book down on her desk. Mirta leaned over the open page. The words seemed to move, coming to the surface of the paper like bubbles in boiling water. She rubbed her eyes, "I can't even read it."

Priscilla tried. "The official formation of the kingdom was a ceremony that lasted three days—assassination of Princess Jenna—beginning of a thousand years of prosperity—realm sank into a new dark age—technological marvels—ugh!" She rubbed her eyes too, and tried to make sense of it, "So someone changed history by killing this princess and it changed everything, even the book and you?"

The picture on the page was easier to focus on. It was either a picture of a royal parade or a coffin in a funeral procession. Just as, in Mirta's memory, Kimmy was either from a civilized, high-technology realm or a primitive backwater. And Kimmy and Selene were either best friends or hated being roommates. And Tecna—

"Tecna!"

Kimmy nodded.

Katy whispered, "But Tecna... didn't get out of the omega dimension."

"No, I remember, she was at dinner last night."

Selene guessed, "If Tecna survived by using technology from your world, then the past changed so it was never invented..?"

Lolina looked around, mouth half open as if searching for something to say. "No. No way. Tecna will just be gone? But she's a Winx, she's strong!"

"Can we fix it?" Selene asked.

Kimmy said, "I can go back and fix it. I pretty much have to, being the only one who realizes what happened makes it my duty. Um, you guys want to come?"

"Travel back in time? Of course we do!" Priscilla said.

"Can you just do that?" Selene asked, "I thought you said there are rules about time travel and the main rule is "don't."

"That rule is to stop people just messing around, or writing down something and going back to place a bet on it. The key here is that I know the past was changed—and you guys do too, since you're the people I'm closest to right now. So I'm sort of chosen to fix it."

Selene looked around at everybody. "Of course we'll all help."

"Hold on, I have to find someone to watch Tabby. If she wakes up and we're not here..." Katy jumped up and hurried out.

Priscilla said, "I think I see why there's a rule against bringing kids to Alfea."

Kimmy shooed her friends to one side of the room and began building a fiendishly complex spell onto the wall of the other. Mirta could see the basic shape of a standing portal—already something beyond her skill to cast—with all sorts of other stuff opening off the back.

Priscilla looked decidedly impressed and Lolina said, "I didn't know you could do stuff like that."

Kimmy blushed.

Selene, who must have known how talented her roommate was, was reading the book again. "Basically, we need to protect Princess Jenna. It's after she died that the king and queen abandoned their realm and everything fell apart—ow, this hurts my eyes! And, um, are we best friends or do I hate you, because that is hurting my _brain_!"

"In real history we're best friends." Kimmy looked at her creation, glowing on the wall, and dipped her hand into it to tweak something.

When she turned away Lolina asked, "How long are we going to be gone, from here I mean? Should we tell the teachers?"

"Less than an hour, but longer than Katy likes to leave the kid unattended. The teachers know we're going, don't worry."

Katy returned, looking rattled, "Ok, Lavigne can keep an eye on Tabby. Let's hurry—I kept half forgetting about Tabby, I think in the other timeline we never met her!"

Which meant—what? In the other history was Tabby safe with her pirate parents, or had she met some awful fate on Kythera?

"Kim, about Tabby, could we go back and warn her parents..?"

Kimmy looked away. The portal's light was growing, casting her face into shadow under her short hair. "No. It's—it's like a law. You can't change history. Unless you already did. Like we're going to."

Which made exactly no sense. "Um..." Katy said.

"Tabby's here. None of us remember her not being here. So we can't change her past because we didn't."

It made a kind of sense, if you turned your brain sideways and squinted. But Kimmy was the one who knew, and she sounded really certain so she was probably right. And there were more important things. Kimmy didn't sound like herself at all, and Mirta was starting to remember the _other_ history, where Tecna was lost and the other girls were having trouble without her and Valtor might actually win. And Keith was—nowhere.

Kimmy motioned them all together in the middle of the floor. "Come here, stand close together. We'll be back here tonight no matter how long we spend in the past. I also set the spell to bring you back if anything goes wrong. It's pretty safe."

Mirta could think of about a hundred questions: did they need special clothes? What about the assassin? Where were they going exactly? But none of these was as important as the need to have _one_ set of memories again.

Kimmy triggered the spell.

Circles of light flashed around them, faster and faster. The room flickered. The furniture changed. Girls in old-fashioned clothing flicked in and out of view. Then the building was gone, and they stood on nothing above cleared land, then above forest. The skyline of Magix flashed: skyscrapers, then lower buildings, then fewer of those, then a walled city with soldiers on the battlements—fairies with armored wings—then it was a small settlement, then huts, then wilderness.

Then they heard cheering and were somewhere else. They'd appeared in an empty alley, with only trash bins and a stray cat to see their arrival. And everything looked... normal.

"This is thousands of years ago?" Priscilla asked, loosening her grip. They were all hanging onto each other for dear life.

Kimmy's hair was long again. She took a moment to pin it into its usual bun. "Oh that's better, everything's getting back on track!" And indeed, the brainbending sensation of having double memories was fading. There was only one past, and it was the right one and they were here to make sure it stayed the only past.

The city around them wasn't mud huts, but it wasn't modern Magix either. The brick and glass towers hadn't been built by magic but they gleamed under the sun. The roads were paved and the air was clean.

"It's based on a city in some nonmagical realm." Kimmy said absently. "Come on, the fun's this way."

The real streets were packed. Everybody in the realm must be here, thronged ten deep around the roadway. In the road too, except when they had to get out of the way for the parade.

Lolina asked the closest person, "Please—where is the royal family?"

"That way, but good luck getting close enough to catch a glimpse! I'm just hoping to see the princess when she rides past!"

"Thank you!"

"Should we try to warn them, or the princess?"

Kimmy said, "Let's try to talk to her when she comes by."

The parade was going past—right now it was a lot of marching bands and cars that rolled along on wheels with important-looking people in them.

Kimmy spelled her voice to be heard under the chatter and cheering of the crowd. "The king lost his name when he left his home realm. That's him on all the posters."

"Cute." Katy said.

"He wandered the universe for a thousand years, helping people. At last he met a girl who was brave and loyal enough to stay by his side through many adventures. When Princess Jenna was born they decided to settle down and brought all their friends from many different times and places to create a new civilization. It's called Chronos because it's a world made by time travel. In our time my home is a high-technology realm second only to Zenith in inventing."

A float that was actually a broken dimension ship went past. Mirta guessed it was an enemy ship captured in a great battle, or something. Next came a walking robot and a couple of kids herding a bunch of waddling fat-beaked birds, then a man riding a purple camel.

Selene said, "What..?"

"Animals that are extinct on their own worlds."

Then around the corner came a huge elephant, larger than Mirta had seen even in pictures. It had a brightly colored tent on its back and from there a girl waved and tossed coins out to the crowd.

"That's Jenna. Let's transform!" Kimmy sprang into the air and twirled into her fairy clothes.

Mirta felt a bit guilty for outshining the parade, but the spectators just cheered, assuming they were part of the show.

Princess Jenna stood up on the elephant's back. She looked calm, but one hand reached into a pocket in her skirt, for a wand or a weapon. Up close she really looked like Kimmy, same long blonde hair and dark eyes.

"What beautiful wings! What planet are you from?"

"Planet Magix. But your highness, you're in danger!"

The princess smiled. "I expect so! Which of dad's enemies is it? It can't be you; they never made any fairies mad that I know of."

"Not us, we came to warn you. Someone changed the past..."

The elephant, still plodding calmly along, reached up its trunk and explored Katy's feet. She giggled and petted it.

"Changed the past? Who are you?" Princess Jenna asked Kimmy.

"Your cousin about two thousand years removed."

The princess pulled out a wand with a blue jeweled tip and unlocked some kind of shield around her little tent. She gestured Kimmy inside. "Tell me everything. If the rest of you are volunteering, you can be my honor guard."

Selene saluted, and the others nodded and they took up positions above and around the elephant. Mirta found herself hoping they could save Jenna, not just for history but because she liked the princess.

And their view from up here was great. The whole parade strung out below them, like a river between banks of cheering people. The people of Chronos were in all colors from pink to brown to blue and green, and wearing all kinds of clothes including none, and they all looked so happy. The story said the Nameless King had invited all his friends to the new world, and it sort of felt like that, like all these people were thousands of friends.

Except one of them wasn't. Mirta reached out with her magic, but she couldn't detect people's feelings. None of the others could either, though they were probably trying. Lolina had one of her rings enchanted, and Selene was watching the crowd like she could find the assassin by staring hard enough.

Then they reached the end of the parade: a large town square bordered by buildings. There was no palace, just modern governmenty structures in glass and metal. In front of one a stage had been set up and they saw the king and queen. She was blonde and wearing a rich velvet dress; he was wearing a suit and a funny hat and giving a speech. There were even _more_ people around. There was no way they'd be able to identify one with evil intentions, not unless the assassin started to use magic.

Selene projected, "Your highness, can you stay inside your shield?"

Kimmy replied, "Jenna has to go up there with her family."

Katy said, "Wait, it's dangerous!"

Now Mirta could feel it, a swell of dark energy. _Something_ bad was about to happen. Priscilla looked around wildly, trying to pinpoint it.

Kimmy said, "Guys, this will be all right!" And stood up. She'd untied her hair and put on Jenna's cloak.

"No, don't!" Selene shrieked.

There was a loud sound and a flash of magic and Kimmy fell forward. Her wings spread like bright rainbows—and a ring of light came between them.

They were in the air, shouts frozen, then the city of Chronos began to flicker and grow around them. Brick and glass buildings became steel then crystal towers. Then light flashed and they were back at Alfea, the spell let them go so suddenly they staggered.

"Kimmy!" Selene shouted, and they realized Kimmy wasn't with them.

And they were here, in the present with no way back.

"Wh-where's Kimmy?" Lolina asked in shock. Mirta couldn't even speak. She shifted back to her normal clothes.

"We have to get back, how do we get back? Kimmy was hurt!"

"Selene..."

Selene looked panicked, lost.

"Girls!"

Mirta turned, "Miss Faragonda, thank goodness! Kimmy is... I don't know."

"Kimmy is fine. Come with me."

The headmistress led them to her office, to a boring-looking cabinet set in an alcove. Miss Faragonda unlocked it, revealing rows of pigeonholes each with a name and a date, and each with a letter. Ancient letters, old and yellowed and smelling of serious preservation magic. One was actually carved in a piece of stone.

"Miss F, what is this?"

"These are letters from students who have gone back in time. Most of them..." She pulled one out and handed it to Priscilla.

"I'm in the potion lab. Don't let me mix those powders!" Priscilla read, "It's dated next year."

"We'll warn her, she won't be blown into the past, and the letter will disappear. Here, this one is Kimmy's. I showed it to her last night."

Selene unfolded the letter, realized she was too emotional to read it, and handed it to Priscilla.

Priscilla cleared her throat. "'_I'm fine, sorry I scared you.'_

_ 'You saw me ten minutes ago but for me it's been almost a year. I was hurt pretty badly, but they have good medical science and I got my enchantix form so I'm fine now. The royal family was pretty grateful so I've been living at the palace with Jenna as a kind of handmaid bodyguard. Lots of parties, lots of important meetings while we build the rest of the city! So please don't worry about me. _

_ 'The king is teaching me about time travel. Together we can send me back, but I won't arrive until NEXT Midwinter for you. We have to leave a long window so I won't risk meeting myself._

_ 'So you'll see me in a year, and I'll see you in ten minutes. Miss Faragonda, please let me graduate when I get back!'_"

"So Kimmy's..."

"Having a great time, apparently." Lolina said, a little sourly. They had had quite a scare.

"She will come back right?"

"According to this, she's about to leave in her time. Miss Faragonda, is this real? Is Kimmy really all right?"

"Yes." The headmistress said, sounding very sure. "Last night Kimmy and I read this letter and checked the oracles for next year, and she decided to go along with whatever was going to happen."

"She could've told us."

Selene, who'd been silent until now, said, "No she couldn't, we'd have stopped her. I would have, you would... we'd have protected her."

The worst part was, it was almost Midwinter and Kimmy would miss the holiday. If you had to leave your family and friends, it would be much better to do it after exchanging presents!

Mirta was wrapping and sending hers, in the library because Keith had come over. On the phone he said he wanted to read more of Alfea's books, but when he arrived he admitted Jess' boyfriend had come over and they were playing video games and sitting closer and closer together. "There was impending smooching. Nobody needs an audience for that." He said, laughing. "So where's the obscure ancient spellbook section, again?"

He started taking notes, and they talked about magic while Mirta wrapped gifts. Trinkets for her friends, gardening stuff for her parents, candy for the boys since that was her default gift. She'd gotten Keith a book of old spells, since the only other thing he seemed to need was a shirt in a color besides black, and if felt weird to give a guy clothes.

Lockette fluttered over. "Would you like me to send your gifts?"

"Could you?"

The pixie waved her staff and packages started disappearing. Keith watched in fascination. "How do you know where to send them?"

"Things know where they want to go."

"Oh... that one's Kimmy's. You can't do a portal back two thousand years." Pixies were supposed to be very powerful, but they couldn't be that powerful.

Lockette thought about it. "It'd be an interesting challenge! It might get lost in the void."

"It's just a book, I can get another copy. Try if you want."

Lockette frowned, waved her staff around, and the package vanished. She grinned in triumph. "It should arrive a few days after Kimmy last saw you. Unless it falls out of the timeline somewhere else, then it might turn up anytime. I can't wait to find out if I really did it! I'm the best pixie of portals ever!"

Mirta giggled and clapped. "You sure are!"

Keith tore a page out of his notebook, wrote a few lines, and said, "Could you send this?"

Lockette took it, looked surprised, and shook her head. "That's not a real destination! What kind of strange place do your friends live at?"

"Nowhere. Never mind." Keith took his paper back. When Lockette stared at him with pixie-sized suspicion he added, "Just an experiment. Sorry."

"Hmmf! Don't set me up for strange experiments!"

"I am sorry."

The sincere apology, or maybe the handsome smile, melted Lockette's grouchy expression and she smiled back before flying off to meet Bloom, Stella, and Amore who'd just come in. Keith looked over at them and stared, the way guys always did when seeing Bloom and Stella for the first time. Mirta sighed.

"That's the fairy of the dragon fire." Keith said, a little stunned.

"Yep, that's Bloom. Want me to introduce you?"

Keith didn't say yes, but he kept staring. "She got all dark and scary last year, and the city's still standing?"

"Of course the... what do you see?"

"If you look with your magic—a door that's only open a little but there's enough light coming through the crack... and I thought _I_ was powerful."

"I thought you were stronger than anybody. You're always saying so." Mirta said, trying for a teasing tone. She had noticed Amore watching them. Maybe the pixie of love was detecting love—or maybe Lockette had just been complaining to her.

"Heh." Keith said dryly. "Not enough..." He glanced at Bloom and Stella again, then back at the book he was trying to read.

"So who were you trying to write to?"

"A girl back home. Not _that_ kind of girl back home, just a friend, like that guy you write to. Just wanted to tell her I'm doing all right."

"Keith..." He looked so lost suddenly, unlike his cheerful, confidant self. "I know, I know, mysterious. I wish you'd let me help you."

Keith smiled and leaned close, "You do help me. Now, look at this spell and tell me if you think it would work or not?"


	21. Chapter 21

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 21

A week and a half after Midwinter day, light snow was falling in the courtyard of Alfea.

Mirta opened the window while she unpacked, spreading magic over the opening to keep the heat inside. Whenever snowflakes blew in, Hexen batted at them with apparent fascination.

"You saw snow at home, you strange animal."

"Mrrt!"

It had been a good trip home. Witches' Sphere didn't have weather spells and there was four feet of snow on the ground. Mirta and Lucy had built a snow fort the size of a garden shed, and spent a whole day trying out the broomstick Lucy got from her parents.

"Halloo Mirta!" Katy bounded into the room, snowflakes still white on her coat and scarf.

Hexen meowed hello. Mirta said, "Have some soap. Mom made a batch."

Katy looked at Mirta's suitcase, laughed, and counted out bars. "One for everyone?"

"The green ones are for the boys. I spent three days stirring a cauldron of soap, while Mom told me all about how _not_ to have a baby. I shouldn't have admitted I have a boyfriend."

Katy laughed long and loud.

Mirta shook her head. "We are so not to that point."

"Your poor mother. Mine... I introduced Tabby to the family, but they have enough kids. And the foundling hospital back home was... full. It was really full."

"Tabby came back with you huh?"

Katy nodded. "I tried to explain, and Tabby says she'd rather live with me, but who knows if she even understands."

Mirta shook her head. She didn't know. She couldn't have taken care of a child, especially one like Tabby who didn't know how to talk or act like a person. But maybe Katy could. But what would really be the best thing for Tabby? "If you can figure out what to do I'll help. Or at least babysit. I like Tabby, even if she doesn't make a lot of sense."

Katy nodded, "Thank you. Hey, have you talked to Selene? I guess Sterling's dad started making some changes to the lower city. Selene's over the moon, even with how much she misses Kimmy."

"It's going to be weird without her."

"Oh—we got you something. Happy late present."

Mirta opened the package. It was a belt with a rhinestone buckle in the shape of a pumpkin. She squealed happily.

"What is it with you and pumpkins?" Katy laughed.

"I like pumpkins." Mirta said, trying on her new belt. "They're cute, they taste good in cake, and if you put a light in one it keeps away bad ghosts. Want to help me deliver the rest of this soap?"

The school year started. The teachers seemed to be getting serious now that graduation was only a few months away. Professor Palladium was getting into complex potions and obscure and dangerous creatures. After spending the day in the desert watching wyverns, practicing curtseys and bows—apparently anyone wearing pants should bow—in Miss DuFour's class was a relief.

Katy and Tabby moved into Alice's empty room. Katy was kept busy transporting her charge too and from elementary school and helping her with homework and her speech therapy. Tabby was talking more, and remembering that she had to be dressed when in human form. And like a normal child she spent a lot of her time running around and doing whatever she felt like: playing with her toys, climbing on the building, and chasing the pixie animals around.

Between school and babysitting, Mirta lost track of time until suddenly she realized Keith hadn't called in three weeks.

She stopped and counted it again in her mind. They'd gone to the ice sculpture contest together, then later he'd called to say he was getting busy with school too, then... nothing. Fear flooded in. Was he bored with her? Had he met someone else? Was she a terrible girlfriend for not noticing just because she had a lot of homework? Should she call? When? She was already up past bedtime, finishing an essay on the five different ways people could be turned to stone and how to turn them back. She couldn't call at midnight.

The next day Jess called her. "Mirta, can you _do_ something about him?"

"Keith? What's wrong? I haven't seen him in weeks."

"That's the problem, neither have the teachers. He's locked himself in with his books like—if I didn't know the guy I'd think he was going to the dark, plotting to break the world in half or something." Jess sighed. "And I think he spelled us not to notice."

Mirta cringed. Skipping class would get you a bad grade, but casting spells on people's brains could get you _arrested_. "I'll come over. Tell the gargoyles to let me in."

"Oh thank you! Please rescue my roommate from himself. Or whatever."

While she grabbed her coat and purse, Mirta tried to worry about all the possibilities at once. She shouldn't have let Keith get away with being 'mysterious,' she should have asked more...

Jess met her in the courtyard of his school, looking angry. "Professor B said this was a student matter and he'd stay out of it."

Mirta wasn't surprised. "Teachers do that, Miss F does it. So what's..?"

"Yesterday I suddenly realized it's weird that I was the only one going to class and meals. And—well, you'd better see it, come in."

Upstairs, Jess' side of the room was a bigger mess than ever, with Midwinter presents on top and nothing interesting happening in the other half of the room.

Mirta blinked, trying to remember why they'd come when there was nothing she needed to do in here. She turned to leave—

"Hey!" Mirta spun back. Her gaze seemed to skip the whole side of the room, insisting only that it was boring. It was the strongest don't-look-at-me she'd ever felt. "Keith, take that down or I'll walk through it!"

"You can't, I already tried."

Mirta summoned her gloomix and started a breeze around the room. Jess yelped and dived to rescue his homework. Mirta pushed on more power, making the wind rise. If a hurricane was what it took, she could make one.

After a minute the spell dropped and Keith looked at them from his desk chair. "All right, all right. Hi you two." He looked tired. There was a ball of glittering magic tucked into a corner of the ceiling.

Jess set hands on hips and raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to get arrested or just thrown out? When was the last time you went to class? As for putting spells on us, your girlfriend—remember her? She can yell at you about it." He bowed politely to Mirta and stepped aside.

Mirta was too stunned to yell properly. "Did you really put spells on us? What's that?"

"Yes I did, yes I'm sorry, and it's a simulation. It's the third one I made, and if it works then I don't have to worry about classes to graduate."

Jess grabbed the simulation and pulled it down to get a look at it. It glittered gold lights on his face. "You think the teachers'll pass you if you invent a spell to tear a hole in the sky? More likely they'll send you to the Omega Dimension."

"That's not what it's for—don't touch it! I don't want to have to make another one."

Hearing the real worry in his friend's voice, Jess sighed and let go of the spell, which bobbed upwards.

Keith continued, "That's why I spelled everyone, I didn't have time to run those and go to class. Just a little trick to make people think it wasn't strange that they hadn't seen me. It was supposed to wear off _after_ I was done."

"And it never worked on some of us." Said a cheerful voice from the door.

Keith groaned. "Professor? You knew."

"Of course I knew." Said Professor Balthazar, joining them. "I came to see how it turns out. You must be Mirta. I'm Balthazar the Eighth, nice to meet you."

Mirta only had time to nod hello because the golden cloud of the spell began to spark and crackle. Keith quit frowning at everyone to pull the simulation down in front of him. It opened like a flower, swarming sparks flashing, moving and connecting lines of light. Mirta couldn't make heads or tails of it but Jess whistled appreciatively. Keith started smiling, his tense face relaxing.

"That's an elegant piece of magic."

Keith looked sideways at the headmaster. "Well, since you obviously know everything, any chance you'll help?"

"You saw the simulation. The bond between all of you is your power, more than anything I could add. There's nothing I can do to help that you haven't already figured out how to do better."

Keith nodded.

Jess said, "And when are you going to tell us what's going on? You could've, you know, instead of enchanting us."

Keith flinched, seeming to remember suddenly that people were mad at him.

Mirta wasn't sure what she felt. She wanted an explanation, wasn't sure what explanation would be good enough, but at the same time didn't feel like yelling. Jess was doing a fine job of that anyway.

Keith said, "Tomorrow. I'll tell you tomorrow, when everyone can be there. Where are Hans and Sterling anyway?"

"Racing around town on rented levibikes."

"Look, just—everything you want to know. Tomorrow. I don't want to do this more than once. It'll be—you'll understand. I need your help."

It should have been the exact wrong thing to say, but Mirta's heart thudded. "Ok. I'll see you tomorrow then. But if you ever put a spell on me again we're through." And she went home, to try to do homework while being too upset to concentrate.

She told the others what had happened, to the predictable reaction of anger and confusion.

"He'd better have a really good explanation." Selene grumbled.

"It doesn't matter how good it is, you don't mess with your friends. That's worse than wrong, it's dumb!" Katy said. Tabby, sitting next to her with dolls, made both dolls nod.

Keith had sent everyone a message to meet the next afternoon at a little cafe in the city. They had three tables and everyone was there: The fairies, the three boys, Sterling's roommate Hans and Jess' boyfriend Donovan, and Lucy. There were pots of tea but nobody was eating, except for Tabby who had a little cake to keep her busy.

Mirta was the last to arrive. She sat down, noticing Hexen had followed her and was sitting alertly under her chair.

Silence fell. Keith fiddled with the papers he'd brought. He looked... scared, Mirta realized. Scared, which looked a lot like angry.

After a minute Jess said, "We're probably all wondering why you called us here today..."

Keith gave his friend a look. He stood up, flicked a shield over them so nobody could eavesdrop, stopped again like he wasn't sure how to say it, then shrugged and said, "I'm from a sealed realm. My people have been slaves to a demon for the last thousand years or so. It's... a bad place, worse than the medieval realm we visited. The only person who could get out was a seventh son, that's why I was born. I came to Magix to learn how to unseal the realm, get everybody out and destroy the demon, and I found a way. Wrote a spell. I'm sure it'll work. But I need your help."

Keith hadn't been looking at them while he spoke. Now he glanced around, his face set as if he was afraid of what he'd see.

People had gasped, started to say things. Katy was shaking her head like she didn't believe it. Jess was cursing under his breath and Hans signed something and scowled.

Sterling's mouth was actually hanging open. He closed it and said mildly, "Well that explains some things."

And it did. No wonder he'd never said where he was from, or anything about his family... Mirta felt sick.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Selene demanded.

"Didn't want to scare anyone away. I really liked having friends."

"And you needed someone to help with your spell." Jess said, his face tight with something like rage.

Sterling held out his hand, Keith passed him a scroll and everyone leaned over to look. It was an elaborate spell diagram, more complex than Mirta could read. The sorcerers, who could, started pointing things out and all talking at once.

Mirta glanced at Keith and he shot her a frightened little smile. He looked exhausted, just from the last few minutes. Mirta's tumbling emotions settled on pity. She had a hundred things she wanted to say, but not in front of everyone.

Hans signed and Sterling translated, "You think this'll work?"

"Yes. So does professor B, he looked everything over. It won't be fun, but it will work. It'll get them out."

"You want to explain this spell?" Lolina asked, "I'm in, but I can't read the squiggles."

Keith's set face relaxed into a wry smile. "Well it won't be fun. We really—to tear open the sky, we need more power than is possible with just us, so we have to do it the hard way, an ordeal."

"Ah crud." Priscilla said, "A 'face your worst fears and darkest secrets' kind of thing? That was on my list of stuff to not do."

"Trust me, I tried everything else I could think of, but there's no other way. It'll be more like a dream, it can't hurt us. Just... everything else, to convince us to give in and give up our powers."

Mirta's stomach shrank with fear. Darkest secrets... she was a witch, she had some pretty dark ones, not stuff she'd actually done but stuff she'd thought and knew... the spell to steal a fairy's wings swam to the front of her mind.

Keith was going on, "And then, since none of us will have failed and lost our powers, I do the spell to bring the realms together and then we all blast it open. And it'll take everything we've got."

Lolina made an unhappy sound. "I hate magic burnout, it hurts!"

Sterling traced a line on the diagram. "Yeah, it'll hurt. But a major working... always wanted to try one."

Hans signed something.

Keith answered, "Unless everyone completely blows it, we'll be fine even if we fail. Even me, and I'm doing the really dangerous stuff."

Mirta opened her mouth to ask how dangerous that was.

Priscilla bat her to it, "Count me in."

"We're fairies, we can't let people suffer."

Keith said, "It only needs two of you—it'd work better if everyone helps but you don't all have to. Katy, you've got Tabby to look after now..."

Katy growled, "I'm a fairy, I'm in."

"Mirta?"

"I'll help. But if you need two witches..."

"Lucy and I made a deal."

"He bribed me." Lucy said cheerfully, flashing a bright blue jewel between her fingers.

Everyone looked at her.

"I'm a witch, I don't have to do everything out of the goodness of my heart. And I really want to go to Madame Glissade's ballet academy after graduation." Lucy smiled through the curtain of her new hair, unashamed. The fairies frowned, but nobody argued with her.

Jess looked around at them and said flatly, "You're all out of your minds. And you—we're a _bunch of students _you seem to have mistaken for the legendary Company of Light!"

Donovan started to say something, looked apologetic, and shrugged. "I'm not magical, but I'll hang around and call the ambulance after you all fall over. This is one of those 'use up your energy and fall over' spells, right?"

"Is it ever." Sterling said, making a face.

Selene said, "Where are we doing this? I don't know how sealed space work but I don't think we should put it in the middle of the city."

"I'm going to put it in the crater, on the other side of Blackmud swamp. The area's the same and nothing lives there since whatever-it-was blew up."

"It was a witch. Messed up a spell, but it was a spell to blow up the city so nobody was too sad." Lucy said.

Keith nodded, "We can portal out there Sunday morning and be back—well, carried back, probably, but back—in time for dinner."

People nodded. There were no more questions. Sterling and Selene said they were in. Jess still looked mad. Hans was signing something, managing to look sarcastic with every movement. Keith didn't bother to translate, just answered, "Your choice. You decide if you want to help or not, I won't blame you."

Hans said something else and Keith nodded. "Well, I'm going home. You can all call and yell at me separately." He got up and left. Everyone else started talking.

Keith looked back and smiled when he realized Mirta was following him.

"Well that went... as well as I expected. Are you mad too?"

"Yes. You should have told me. If you're going to kiss someone you should tell them things like that! You're a jerk."

"I know. I'm sorry."

Done yelling Mirta said, "We'll help you, the fairies will. And Lucy. I don't know about..."

"Jess thinks we're only friends because I needed him for this. Which isn't true. I just hope he'll believe me."

"But you _do_ need him for this."

"I..." Keith turned, grabbed Mirta and pulled her against him, not saying anything, just holding on. Mirta leaned into his warmth, but couldn't quite feel comfortable.

Saturday night, Mirta was writing letters. They were going to do something dangerous, well, Keith said it wasn't but just in case something went wrong she wanted people to know. She'd called her parents already. They'd warned her to be careful and said they were very proud she wanted to help people.

Now she was writing to Orion, so he'd know what was going on. ..._so that's what we're doing. I've got nervous butterflies. Professor Avalon told us about his ordeal to become a paladin and it sounds terrifying—'face your inner darkness and overcome it' which means everything you're scared of and everything you want enough to do something bad to get it. Paladins are nuts to sign up for this!_

_ I really wish I could use fairy dust and heal people. I like being a witch but I'm jealous of my friends. I wish there was such a thing as an enchantix witch. So if I get all evil, maybe the demon promised to invent a witch enchantix. I still don't think I'd fall for it, but if you get back next week and I've gone all evil, I want you to know it wasn't for something dumb or greedy._

_ I can't list my worst fears without running out of paper. Look in your monster book, I'm scared of all those monsters, and the upperclassmen at Cloud Tower, and every bad thing that might happen. I'm scared Keith got something wrong. Or lied about how much danger he'll be in._

_ Well, we'll manage. And I guess I'll be telling you about it in person. It'll be cool to see you again._

Mirta twiddled her pen for a minute and decided to end the letter there. She was addressing the envelope, grateful the pixies could deliver with just a name, when something tapped her window. She looked out.

Keith was standing in the garden, his long uniform coat blowing in the breeze. Mirta waved, and Keith walked up the air to her window. "Hey. I know I can't come in, want to go up on the roof?"

"Sure."

It was chilly, and Keith wrapped his coat around both of them as they sat on the edge of the roof. "Wonder if this is the reason for the big coats. Maybe Balthazar the first had a girlfriend."

Mirta, snuggled against him and deliciously warm, laughed. "Why did you come? Please don't say you suddenly realized it won't work, or something?"

"No, nothing like that." Keith said, looking up at the night sky. "I was just thinking that tomorrow everything's going to change, and I wanted to see you again before that."

"I guess it will. You'll have your family back."

"And my friends from there, and the responsibility of keeping my sisters out of trouble. I miss them so much, but it's been fun being a student with nobody to worry about. I really liked having a normal life."  
"What's your world like?" Mirta asked, because she had to ask.

Hexen had followed them up, and draped himself across their laps. Keith adjusted his coat to keep the cat warm too. "It's... bad. Like the medieval realm. Worse than that. Never enough food. No books, no music, nothing beautiful. Anyone who tried to create anything would lose a hand, or their sight or something. No place to go, just the town and the fields and the forest. And sometimes the ground would open up and eat someone, thought not since I was born. We're running out of people, most of the babies are born sick. My sister Dawn has... her face isn't right, she looks kind of like Hex."

Mirta had seen a picture of kids like that, in a textbook about developing realms. "They can fix it at the hospital. For kids anyway, I don't know about a grownup. Hey, you said a name!"

"Dawn, Ember, Skye and Springtime. And Tana and me. I wonder if any of them will be fairies. Back there—there's no magic either, except for mine. Not just no fairies, no flowers or sunsets or any of that 'magic of nature' stuff Hans rambles on about after he's been reading about druids."

Mirta tried to imagine, and shivered. "That's... no wonder you were afraid to tell us. That's important."

"It's everything. It's the only reason I'm here, or it was supposed to be. Then I got to school and it got more complicated."

"How did you learn... to read?" Mirta finished, choosing one of the hundred things someone would have to know about the modern world.

"Magic. Professor Balthazar smacked me with a spell. And then Jess dragged me around town and laughed whenever I did something dumb. It was very educational."

It sounded terrible. Mirta smiled for a moment then, "We'll get them out. We can do it. Only—you're sure you'll be all right?"

Keith looked down at her and smiled, "You're worried about me."

"I don't believe you'd put us in danger without telling us, but you might put yourself in danger. You won't—die, or turn into something awful?"

"I won't die. I want to come home after, and graduate, and see what my family thinks of this amazing realm, and see what comes next."

And then it was time, and they were standing in a ballroom-sized magic circle in the middle of nowhere outside the city.

Lolina was pacing and Katy's tail lashed under her skirt. Mirta guessed she wasn't the only one with nervous butterflies. Jess and Donovan were talking quietly. Selene and Sterling were holding hands, which was sweet. Mirta wanted to go to Keith, see if he needed someone to hold hands with, but he was looking away from them and doing some magic that made light flicker along the ground.

It was cloudy. Mirta hoped they wouldn't get rained on. She hoped they'd get back before Hexen got tired of staying home or Tabby drove Miss Grizelda crazy. She hoped they'd all get back at all.

Lucy's eyes sparkled behind the screen of her hair. She looked more excited than scared. "Don't look like that Mirta, we can do this."

"I know..." Mirta said. The sorcerers' assurance that this wasn't dangerous only made her a little less scared.

Keith turned to face them. He looked distant, stern, and very impressive with his robe blowing around him. He summoned his staff and leaned on it. "Ready?"

Selene and Sterling nodded sharply. Priscilla said, "Let's rescue some people!"

Keith looked around, meeting everyone's eyes. Finally he said, "Donovan, it'll be pretty obvious when to call for help, they may see the fireworks back at school. Guys... see you on the other side."

The light faded.

Mirta found herself on a path that vanished ahead and behind into a sort of unfinished foggyness, as if going from nowhere to nowhere. Mirta thought about calling for her friends but decided not to. She transformed, in case anything jumped out at her, and started walking.

Nothing happened. There was nothing to see but the rocky, ordinary-looking path bordered by vagueness, nothing to hear but her boots scritching on the ground. At first she expected something awful to happen any minute, but time went on and on and nothing did. That was the point, wasn't it? Awful things had to happen or it didn't count.

Unless it already didn't count because someone had failed. Hours had gone by, maybe everyone else had been tested already and someone had given in. Keith hadn't actually said what would happen, only that it would mess up the spell. There would be no reason for anything to happen to her if the spell had already failed.

It was probably Lucy.

Of course it was Lucy, the one who hadn't really been on an adventure like this before, and the one who... wanted something.

"You could be beautiful." it had said and Lucy had given in. How could she not? Anyone would want to be beautiful and admired and special.

Mirta certainly did. Her wings made her special, but she'd rather be special like Bloom or Flora who could do anything without being afraid and who lit up the whole room just by being in it.

The fog around the path was getting thicker, grayer, almost silver. Mirta could see herself reflected, a smear of color on the cloud that slowly, impossibly, cleared. Mirta stepped back and stared. Her reflection was... _brighter_. Its skin was flawless, its hair wasn't rusty but copper and gold, and its emerald eyes sparkled. Mirta's pink outfit looked good on her double, and it had gotten fancier, decorated with rows of black pearls and rubies. She glowed like sunset. She looked—like Bloom.

"You could be an enchantix fairy."

And Mirta realized it had been talking to her for a while, without words or a voice, but talking. She felt a little sick, but also relieved. Maybe all the things she'd been thinking weren't true after all. Of course Lucy wouldn't have given in—Mirta couldn't believe she'd doubted it.

"You'll lose." Mirta said aloud, "You had me for a minute but it won't work again."

"Really?" her reflection laughed, a beautiful haughty sound. "You think nothing can defeat you? But so many things already have!"

Mirta jumped when it spoke, but held her ground as her other, prettier self stalked around her.

"The Trix defeated you, you're still afraid if them. Your family, your world, you'll never fit in now. You don't even know what you are. Your friends are getting stronger and you can't keep up. And these aren't even the friends you really wanted! The people you'd really like to be with are farther above you than the clouds in the sky!" It turned into Flora and laughed and laughed.

Mirta had flinched at every accusation, but now shook her head. "That's all true but you still don't win." Her voice was shaking. She didn't know what she was talking to, some spirit of the spell or the demon itself? And she wasn't really sure it couldn't hurt her. Still, she turned her back and kept walking up the hill. It followed, silently.

"So what would you be, if someone could fix you? Because I could. A witch or a fairy? Rule people or..." It sniggered, "Help them?" Don't you wonder what kind of witch you would have been?"

Mirta glanced sideways to see a new version of herself, wearing a skimpy black leather dress and lots of eye makeup and looking impressive and scary.

"No? Not even to do to Icy everything she likes doing to the first-years?"

It would have been tempting, if she forgot where she was and what she was talking to. A demon with the power to seal a realm could probably turn her into anything it wanted. Probably only the terms of the spell saved her from being a newt right now.

"No. I'm here to rescue those people. I don't matter right now."

The thing looked at her and its eyes went red for a moment. Mirta jumped back. But it just—disappeared. Suddenly. Mirta looked around quickly, sure it was somewhere nearby... but it wasn't.

Then the mist at the sides of the path began to clear. Maybe everything was over.

The land revealed was rocky and dead looking, without much green or much color at all. There was a little creek at the bottom of the valley, with dusty-looking trees on either side.

The air changed and Mirta looked up. There was no _sky_. A gray dome lay over everything, not clouds, just... a limit. Suddenly the world was crushingly small.

There were two people walking by the stream. Their clothes were brown and shapeless, and they looked shrunken as if they didn't know how to stand up straight.

It was Keith, of course it was, arm in arm with a girl whose hair gleamed golden in this dead place. Her head was bowed, her face hidden, but Mirta was sure she was beautiful. And this felt real, like a memory not an illusion.

Keith's deep voice said, "...don't know how long... going to be hard..."

"But you will come back?" the girl's voice was high and breathy, and she didn't look up, "You won't just disappear forever?"

Keith laughed a tired little chuckle and helped his friend around a rock in the path. "I promise I'll come back. It's my destiny. I'll find a way. So you wait, and _no more pictures!_"

Mirta stepped forward, calling out—and stumbled back into the circle with the others in the real world.

Her friends looked just as rattled as Mirta felt. Selene and Sterling were hanging onto each other, and she seemed to be comforting him. Priscilla was surrounded by an aura of ghostly fire she couldn't calm down enough to banish, and Lolina had clearly been crying. She wiped her eyes and growled, "It thinks it knows about me—it got everything wrong!"

Lucy grabbed Mirta's arm and hung on. "You're all right!"

"I'm fine—what did you see?" Mirta asked in alarm, but Lucy shook her head and didn't say.

Mirta wasn't really fine. The choice was pretty clear: do the spell and your kind, charming, perfect boyfriend gets his _other_ girl back. Or don't help. Sacrifice hundreds of people for your love.

Katy, busily smoothing the fur on her tail, joked, "I'm going to have way more respect for Professor Avalon now, he did three of those to become a paladin!"

"Did it work?" Jess asked.

Keith was leaning on his staff, trying to look cool but actually looking scared. He glanced at Mirta, smiled at her. then turned away. Behind him where there had been nothing but lifeless ground, something was appearing. It looked like a dirty gray bubble, like the blank not-sky in Mirta's vision. Through it, fuzzily, she could see the shapes of buildings.

And people.

They came and pressed against the wall, vague blurs of brown with pale blobs of faces and hands.

"Hard part's over. Now all we have to do is break that open."

"Ah, something to hit!" Selene looked cheered at the prospect.

Mirta's magical senses told her they'd have to hit it pretty hard to do any damage. It wasn't really a wall, more like a thought or a distance, that only looked like a thing.

"Well then!" Priscilla held out her hands. Katy and Lolina took her hands and Selene came over to complete the chain. "Ready for convergence!"

Mirta nodded to Lucy, who smiled back. "Ready!"

Keith raised his staff in a grand gesture and cast a wedge of blue lightning at the barrier. The ground shook from the force of it. All sound was buried in the roar of the lightning but Mirta saw the boys join in with their power. The fairies' energy looked like a rainbow of light and Lucy's like dark green fire. Mirta summoned all her strength, cast it from her hands—and met a solid wall.

They weren't strong enough.

"We are!" Mirta yelled, unheard in the din.

It wouldn't work.

"It will!"

She wasn't even sure she wanted-

Keith's voice whispered, "Sorry-" And then the spell turned, reached inside her, and took everything and there was a great cracking sound like thunder splitting the sky.

The next thing Mirta was aware of was how _awful_ she felt. Hot and shivery at once, and her head was spinning, and she really wanted to lie down.

The others already were, Selene and Priscilla leaning on each other, Lolina lying passed out on the ground, Sterling sitting holding his head like he wanted to get up but couldn't. Katy had reverted to her little cat form and Jess was holding her carefully in one arm. Donovan, still on his feet, stood next to them talking on his phone.

Keith lay very still, crumpled where he'd fallen.

Mirta heard herself make a frightened little sound.

"He's all right—well, breathing, anyway." Donovan said quickly. "Can you do anything? No?" He turned back to his phone, telling whoever was sending ambulances to send them _faster_.

Mirta realized her gloomix had appeared and was glowing steadily. Her patron, saving her from passing out, though right now passing out didn't sound so bad. She took one step, stumbled, and decided not to try more. "Lucy?"

"M'all'right." Lucy mumbled. "Did we win?"

Mirta looked up and managed. "Yes..."

The village was real. It was a dump, houses looking like they were barely standing up. The people were inside, looking out through window-holes and doors. In a minute they'd get curious enough to come out.

They didn't just need ambulances, they needed _buses_ to bring everyone back, and where were they going to put everyone, Mirta wondered, giddy with the pain in her head. The ground was nice clean dirt, and holding still, and maybe if she lay down here next to Lucy her head would stop spinning. She took another step and dropped to her knees. Keith... had to be all right, he said he would be...

Suddenly Donovan dropped his phone and drew a sword. "Something's coming!"

The air went stinking and foul and something flew at them, too quickly to be seen and vanishing as it came. It was just a body, just arms, just hands—Mirta couldn't dodge the fading claws that grabbed her wing and ripped it from top to bottom before disappearing forever.


	22. Chapter 22

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 22

Mirta pushed her way through a dark, shining forest. She didn't know where she was, but that didn't matter. Somewhere behind her something bad had happened, something that hurt. Somewhere ahead was a place she'd never been, interesting and waiting to be explored. In between was this jungle of leaves the color between green and black, and tiny white flowers like distant stars come close.

She pushed aside a branch and someone was there. Floating in a clearing was a woman in a dress and cloak the purple of the end of sunset. Her clothes and hair swirled in an unfelt wind and her feet didn't touch the ground.

Mirta had one thought and that was impossible. "Witches don't become nymphs!"

"A nymph? Hardly. I am here by my own power, not the great dragon's flame. And _you_ are going back!"

The ethereal vision had a perfectly normal voice, and sounded grouchy. Mirta said, "No, I don't want to." but she'd started thinking, and wondering what was going on. "Where are..?"

The vision looked up and smiled. "Looks like I won't have to-"

And Mirta woke up in a world where it felt like her wings were on fire and somewhere a voice was saying, "Shock... like that sometimes... stable now..." and then everything faded.

At some point, they'd sewed up her wing. And then had to sew it up again for some reason. Doctors came and went, nasty-tasting potions were offered, and it was all pretty foggy. Major healing spells usually made the patient sleep a lot, and Mirta knew a few days had passed but wasn't sure how many.

She couldn't disappear her wings. Doctor Annis explained that the one wing was so damaged that if she vanished her wings they'd never come back. So now her wings were attached in a way they hadn't been before, and they were heavy and hurt a lot. The torn wing was covered in a bandage made of spider silk that still seemed to weigh a ton. Mirta couldn't reach around to undo the bandage and see the damage, but sometimes it felt like things were sliding around inside. The terrible pain had faded to a worrying numbness.

Doctor Annis was the doctor in charge of Mirta's case, and seemed nice enough even if she did use a lot of long medical words. Mirta understood her magic was gone but would come back, but that having no magic and being injured by a creature of total evil was even worse than, well, than it obviously would be. She didn't need any explanations to know she felt terrible and hardly had the strength to walk across the room. She spent most of her time in bed, trying to find a comfortable position and watching the news.

The news was about them. They'd made every channel that _had_ a new show, with updates every time the news came on. Keith was still in the hospital, he hadn't woken up. The doctors on TV said that was normal and he might wake up any time. Everyone else was back at their schools recovering. Jess had gotten himself interviewed, so had Priscilla and Lolina. Lucy hardly got mentioned.

The new arrivals got most of the airtime. Eight hundred and seventy-four people. Eight hundred and seventy-four people who'd never had a real doctor or been immunized against anything or even had enough to eat, some of them. The other two wings of the hospital were full, and Mirta's nurses often vanished to go help out.

That meant she had no one to talk to except Doctor Annis, who came three times a day to check her wing, make notes on the two patient charts, and prescribe more potions. But it also meant no nurses to throw Hexen out. He appeared whenever Mirta was awake, and spent most of his time curled up against her back in a puddle of warm cat.

It was dinnertime. The food was good, and someone had noticed the cat and sent an extra dish of tuna for him. They were watching the news, and Mirta had just realized those were Keith's parents and sisters doing all the interviews. They all looked so worn down that the resemblance only showed when the reporter said something funny and the youngest sister laughed. It was the same smile. Mirta decided she liked Keith's sisters. They were poised and polite, and doing awfully well for people dropped in an unfamiliar world and made famous.

For once, Valtor hadn't made the news at all. He was probably lying low in his lair, wherever that was. Mirta hoped he didn't get mad about being upstaged. That was all they needed...

The next story was that the Magix port was closed because someone had tried to smuggle in a cursed sarcophagus. Very, very cursed. "...now traffic is being rerouted while experts from the guild of archaeologists and Cloud Tower school for witches try to identify the origin and nature of the artifact. It is radiating negative energy and showing signs of activity, but not to worry! The protocol for sealing dangerous cargo has been implemented, and there is no danger to the public."

"Well that's good news anyway." Doctor Annis said, bustling in. "And how are you feeling?"

"The same..." Mirta said, shy of saying, 'terrible.' The doctor was a little too much like Miss Ediltrude for comfort.

"Well, turn around, let me see."

Mirta squirmed around to face the wall and managed not to make too many whimpery noises as Doctor Annis checked her wings. "Everything as expected. You should be able to go home the day after tomorrow." Doctor Annis made a note in her electronic chart, then on the paper chart at the end of the bed. She measured out medicine, took away the dinner dishes, and told Mirta to get to bed early.

It didn't seem right, Mirta thought. She didn't feel like she'd be well enough to go home in just a few days. But she'd already said that and the doctor had just nodded and said reassuring things.

Hexen came out from under the bed and jumped up onto in, kneading the hospital's rough white sheets with his claws. Mirta rubbed his fur absently. Something was wrong. Only—of _course_, something was wrong, she was hurt and alone and that was plenty of reason to be afraid.

Exhausted from doing nothing all day, Mirta tried to sleep but her brain wouldn't settle. She wasn't getting better. Everyone said she was, but she didn't feel better. Was she hurt worse, some way the doctors couldn't see? _Something_ was wrong...

She got up, padded to the door of her room, and opened it. No sound of typing. The nurse on duty must have gone somewhere. Well, most of the patients were on monitors and if they got worse someone would teleport in to help. The other patients' doors were closed, and Mirta knew they were mostly in such serious condition they couldn't walk around.

It was a long walk, just the one hallway, and sure enough the nurse's station was empty. Now there was just the next long walk across the room to the big desk. She could make it.

She almost had when she saw movement by the other door. Nobody was visible, but a piece of the wall was—hard to look at. Mirta squinted at it, unable to see through the spell without her magic. Hexen trotted over with a welcoming chirp. The cat proceeded to weave through the strange patch of air.

"You might as well come out, the cat can see you." Mirta said. Was it a thief? Who'd sneak into a hospital?

Suddenly her wing spiked pain and she stumbled. There was time to think about how unpleasant it would be to hit the tile floor knees first as her legs gave up and she fell—against a person, who steadied her and said, "Sorry—sorry! Forgot you can't see me!"

For a minute Mirta was just happy not to have hit the ground. Then it dawned on her that the voice was familiar, then realized who it was.

"Orion?"

"Your cat said you needed help."

"...but you're realms away from here!"

"We were... _we_ should not stay out here. Can you walk by yourself?"

The answer to that was no. Actually the answer was, no and I feel sick and my wings hurt and my boyfriend's spell stole our magic and it hurt and I can't even yell at him if he won't wake up and I'm so glad you came because nobody came and I'm scared and this is not how it's supposed to go after you win a big battle.

Mirta wasn't sure what she actually said aloud, but Orion crouched to wrap his other arm around her legs and lifted her up, apparently without effort.

"You-" Mirta yelped in surprise.

"Your boyfriend just rescued nine hundred people, he can give someone else a turn. And I've carried crates of artifacts that weigh more than you, and can't hold on."

Mirta held on. Orion was taller than she remembered, and wider too, and she could lean her head on his shoulder and be almost comfortable.

"As for why we're here—the sarcophagus that's blocking your port. The guild called Mom to see if she could identify it. We were traveling when you guys made the news. So as soon as we got in I wanted to see if you were all right and get the whole story. Is that your room, with the door open?"

Mirta nodded, and twitched her wings out of the way of the doorway.

"The nurses downstairs wouldn't let me in, so I was going to come back tomorrow. But..."

Two steps brought them to the bed, and they ended up sitting down in a heap and then scooting away from each other. Hexen leaped up between them.

"But?" Mirta prompted.

"Luckily you have a weird cat. It followed me out and meowed at me so I knew something was up. So I waited a while then did a don't-look-at-me and came to find you. Just in time I guess, you look terrible. Were you trying to sneak out?"

Mirta felt wobbly, like she might cry. But you couldn't cry on a guy who wasn't your boyfriend, that wouldn't be right. So she ducked her head against Hexen's fur for a minute until she thought her voice would sound all right. "Something's wrong, I don't think I'm getting better. Doctor Annis has another chart, one of the electronic ones, maybe she wrote something different in it that she didn't tell me. They're left in a drawer of the desk out there, I thought I could get it and read it."

Orion just nodded. "An electronic reader and the name is Annis? All right. You rest, I'll find it."

And that was all. No questions. Mirta let herself fall sideways and curled up, to get the weight off her wings. Her thoughts were seething, fear and relief and shame that Orion, who she only really knew through letters after all, had to see her acting like a total wimp. Miss Grizelda had made a long speech once in fighting class about how everyone needed to be rescued sometime and it was nothing to be ashamed of, but that didn't help much when it was happening to you in real life. And she wished it could have been Keith who came, she wouldn't have been nearly as embarrassed.

It was a long few minutes before Orion came back, holding the electronic chart and flipping through it with one finger. He took the paper chart from the end of the bed and compared them, frowning. "Well they are different. The paper one lists four more different treatments than this one. Do you remember..?"

"I don't know. There are so many potions..." Mirta said miserably, then thought of something. "That didn't need a password?"

"Two passwords, and a fingerprint lock. Or, Universal Open." Orion flashed her a grin.

Mirta blinked. "You _really_ know Universal Open?"

"Yep. But tomorrow I have to swear an oath not to use it in the city." Orion flicked a few more pages on the chart and suddenly went still. "Did your doctor say anything about tomorrow?"

"No."

Orion looked at her, then away.

"What?"

He didn't answer, so Mirta reached and grabbed the chart. For tomorrow, Doctor Annis had reserved an operating room for amputation.

The world shrank. Mirta heard her voice, all by itself, saying, "No, no, they can't, that's not all right..."

"Hey. _Mirta!_ That's not going to happen." said a distant voice, "So say something that makes sense ok!"

Mirta blinked and took a real breath. Orion was holding her shoulder with one hand, the other was poised above the emergency call button.

"No don't. I'm all right."

Orion didn't look convinced, put took his hand away from the button. "Dumb question, but do you have a phone?"

"I don't know where it went."

"And there's not one downstairs. Can you manage alone for a couple of hours? There's plenty of time, it's not even midnight."

Mirta nodded, stomping down a wave of panic at the idea of being left alone. "What are you going to do?"

"Heroically ask for help. From Alfea I guess, since Mom says Miss Faragonda always knows what to do. I don't want to leave you but... you're really sick. I don't think you can come on the bus."

Mirta looked down at her hospital nightgown, which was at least fabric not paper but was definitely not _clothes_. She couldn't walk far enough to ride a bus all the way to Alfea anyway. "I'll be all right."

Orion stood up, looked at the door and back at Mirta. "You sure? Call the nurse if you get scared again. I'll be back long before morning, or someone will."

Mirta nodded and tried to look as well as possible. "Just hurry all right?"

And then there was waiting. For someone to come. For everything to be all right, or not. Maybe it was already too late for her wings to be saved. But it was better to know how bad things were. Hexen stayed, sprawled out on the thin hospital pillow with his six legs in the air, and fell asleep. He seemed to think everything would be fine.

"So much for pets knowing when you're upset." Mirta grumbled. But he had known to bring help. And—Orion had recognized Hexen from Mirta's descriptions of him, but how had Hex recognized _him_?

More than an hour later Mirta was slipping into an uncomfortable doze when there was a knock on the window.

"Yoo-hoo!"

Mirta jumped, tweaked her wing the wrong way and yelped in pain. Then floors up, the window didn't open, but the glass rippled, the curtains were pushed aside from the outside, and help arrived.

"Oh sweetie, you look awful! We didn't know, we'd have come days ago!"

"Flora, Stella-" Mirta managed, before Flora pulled her into a springtime-scented hug.

Ducking in the window, Princess Aisha smiled at her. "Miss F figured a triple dose of fairy dust ought to fix your wings—if it doesn't, you're leaving with us and Professor Palladium said something about calling the elf queen's personal healer."

"And I gotta say, if things don't work out between you and the big hero that Orion might be a good catch. He offered to give me the earrings off the princess mummy in the museum if I helped you."

"Stella, you can't-"

"Of course I said no, but it was a sweet offer."

Mirta found herself smiling. If Stella was, well, being Stella then everything would certainly be all right.

"Stella, some times are not the time for matchmaking." Princess Aisha said, smiling. She held out her hand and the little bottle disappeared from her necklace and appeared in her hand.

"Um. Is there anything I need to do?"

"No, close your eyes maybe."

Mirta did.

Magic rose around her. It slid over her skin like silk, like waves of stars swarming over her wings. It felt amazing. It felt like food after so long you've forgotten you were hungry, or the first warm breeze after winter, or waking up after a nightmare. Suddenly she could move and she could breathe and nothing hurt. Nothing hurt! She landed, giddy and laughing and turning to look at her wonderfully whole wings.

Stella cheered and Flora was laughing in delight.

"Better?"

"My magic's back! And I can fly! And my clothes came back, even if they're still pink." Mirta exalted, and hugged Stella and Flora and bowed to Princess Aisha who she didn't know well enough to hug.

"The guys are outside, Orion wants to talk to you." Flora said. "Here, you can get through the glass with this. It tells you where to go too."

Mirta took the short green wand. "Isn't this Lockette's?"

"She copied it. Seriously." Stella made a gesture of pulling something apart. "Bloom wanted to come but figured we'd better since she hasn't got her real enchantix yet, so she asked Lockette to help us."

Looking out, Mirta could see a Red Fountain ship on the other side of the parking lot. "How will you guys get out?"

"The front door, after we make sure nobody else needs some magic. I know most people are here because fairy dust won't help, but you never know."

"Those refugees had a terrible time."

"So don't worry about us!" Stella finished cheerfully.

Mirta smiled and thanked them again, tapped the little wand on the window and dived out through the glass.

The night air was cold and crisp and liquid, and Mirta spun just to feel it on her wings. Someone saw her and the ship blinked its lights. She dived down, Orion grabbed her hands and they swung around, laughing.

"You're all right, then?" Orion asked when he got the chance.

"I'm fine! I feel great!"

"Here—your phone. Someone named Tecna fiddled with it, hit the three and then leave it open and it'll send audio to her computer for evidence. And Katy says call her."

Mirta nodded and tucked her phone into her pocket. "Thanks! Hi Lockette! And thanks for bringing them, Brandon."

"Sure." Brandon smiled at her. "Got to meet the new student teacher. We were talking about the uniforms."

"I don't want to wear a cape." Orion said.

"Capes are great!"

"It'll be a hot day in the Omega dimension before I put on a cape. I'm a guest lecturer."

"You're the same age as us."

Mirta and Lockette laughed. It sounded like the beginning of a great friendship.

"You're glittering." Orion said suddenly. He brushed his hand down Mirta's arm and looked at the sparkles on his fingers. "Your wings especially. Leftover fairy dust?"

Mirta gasped. "You think it would work—do you think I could—Keith's still-"

Lockette piped, "You should try! You should! Use my wand to find him, but it will disappear at sunrise so don't get trapped anywhere you don't want to be!"

"Thanks—thank you—I have to hurry-" Mirta gave Lockette a little pat, hugged Orion, and took off.

The little wand tugged her towards the other building, which had a lot of lights on and people moving around, even in the middle of the night. But the room it led her to was dark. She tapped the window and pushed through.

The only light came from the shimmering cocoon of magic over the bed. Under it, Keith looked pale, bleached and way too still. He looked dead. Mirta almost thought he was, but the machines on the wall were blinking the yellow lights of unhealthy but stable life signs.

There was someone else there, a huddled hooded shape in the only chair. Sleeping. Mirta landed silently, wrapping magic around herself for quiet.

"Keith?" She whispered, projecting the word to him and reaching through the magic to touch his cheek. She could feel the fairy dust on her wings, heavy and waiting to be used. She concentrated and flicked her wings forward—nothing happened. She tried to pull power from the fairy dust to use in a healing spell—and it didn't work. Maybe she couldn't do it.

She was just starting to worry when fabric rustled and a breathy, sleepy voice said, "Who's there?"

It was the girl with golden hair.

She wasn't pretty, in person, her hair was thin and her face marked by old illness. And her eyes were blank pearls. Mirta gasped and lost hold of her silence spell. "Ah..."

All the times Keith offered his arm to her, was it because he was used to guiding someone who was blind?

The white eyes stared right at her. "You glow. What are you?"

Mirta scrambled for words. "I'm, I'm Keith's friend. I came to try to help him."

The stranger's face lit. "Can you? Please!"

"I don't know, I thought so but... um, I'm Mirta. What's your name?"

"Tana. I'm Tana. I just came here, I don't know anything, I still can't see. Keith is, he was always... he has to be all right."

"Yeah." Mirta said softly. "Only I don't think I can help after all."

Tana sighed and turned away, trying to find a more comfortable position in her chair. And Mirta saw her wings, in the other space where wings existed when they weren't out. Tana's wings were crumpled and colorless, hanging down her back. But she _had_ wings, or would have them if they didn't fade away completely. "Maybe it'll work if you help, since you're a fairy."

"What's a fairy?" Tana asked.

And Mirta's world jolted, something inside of her was looking at those wings as all she'd ever wanted and the spell to take them was right there and the front of her mind and Tana would never even know-

Then the moment broke. Maybe it was even a spell, from the evil book. She shook her head hard. Tana was facing up at her, expression hopeful.

"Fairies... um, that will take a while to explain. Let's try to wake Keith up first and I'll tell you later."

"What can I do?"

How to explain magic to someone who didn't know what it was... "Here, hold my hand. Now think about Keith, think how much you need him to be all right, think it with all your strength, with every _cell_. And then sort of push it out-"

Tana was doing it, she was glowing pale green and her wings were slowly unfolding. Mirta reached out with her magic, hoping it would work somehow, really _needing_ this to work—

And the room filled with light.

Mirta gasped and magic flooded her lungs and sparkled in her head and she felt different, her wings felt wider and stronger.

She opened her eyes to see Tana, her arms held out to the fairy dust in the air, trying to breathe it in, color filling her wings. Mirta's own wings remained the same. But she didn't have time to worry because Keith groaned and opened his eyes.

"Did... we win?"

Mirta leaned over him. "Yes! Everyone's fine, how do you feel?"

"Like I got hit by a bus, but better than a minute ago. We're... hospital. How long? Tana! Tana, is everybody..?"

Tana was crying happy tears. "We're here, we're all here, your family, everyone! Even Dawn's baby. It's a boy, he lived."

"Oh, that's... oh." Keith was smiling like Mirta had never seen him smile. He tried to sit up, made it only halfway, and settled for propping himself up on one elbow. "I can't believe we did it. I can't believe you're here. There's so... where is everyone? You're all right? Your eyes?"

"I can see better here. And the nice doctor said they can fix my eyes later, but other people are hurt worse. Everyone's _here_, in these buildings, they're asleep now. Tomorrow is Saturday whatever that means."

Mirta added, "Everyone _else_ is back at school, probably still in the infirmary. I got hurt but I'm fine now. We're all over the news shows, I've seen your sisters on TV."

"Then... I guess sleeping for another week like I kind of want to is not an option." Keith said, sounding a little overwhelmed but more like his usual self.

"I don't think so." Mirta grinned. "You're a hero, everyone wants to talk to you. But they'll probably leave you alone until tomorrow."

"Some hero I'll be, flat on my back. Oh- you met I guess, but Tana's an old friend, sort of an adopted sister. And Mirta is my girlfriend."

Mirta smiled, warmed by the word.

Tana made a face. "Are you kissing? Just because I can't see you doesn't mean you can kiss."

"We weren't." Mirta said, trying not to laugh. It wasn't right to laugh at someone who was blind, but the way Tana had said it was pretty funny.

It wasn't fair. They'd just won, everything was supposed to be perfect! The other girl wasn't supposed to show up _now_! And even if she wasn't an ex-girlfriend, Tana was clearly _something_. Even more unfairly, she was nice. Mirta's instincts were jealous of this other girl so close to her precious boyfriend, but she couldn't really dislike Tana.

And, another thought whispered, her perfect boyfriend had stolen their magic.

Keith was watching her face, and his smile faded. "What's wrong?"

"I've had a pretty bad few days. I'm glad you're all right, but... the spell, at the end. You set it to pull our magic out."

"Yeah."

"That hurt."

"I didn't have a choice. I'm sorry."

"You could've warned us. About that and... everything."

"I know."

Mirta wrapped her hands around his, in a kind of apology. "What am I doing, you're still sick, we can talk later."

"And Jess will want to yell at me, so there's that to look forward to." Keith said with a little apologetic ghost of a grin.

Tana had been listening, head tipped to one side. Suddenly she said, "Don't be mad. Nobody can be mad, you had to save us. I made you promise anyway, so people can yell at me."

"It's not..." Mirta began.

Keith said, "I deserve some yelling. I lied to my friends, a lot. Having a good reason doesn't make it right. But I'm just happy I'm here to be yelled at. Hey, do any of those machines say if my magic's going to come back?"

There was a medical chart, and Mirta read as much of it as she could understand. "Whoever wrote this thinks so." She said finally.

"Good. That was important. We have to build a city..."

"How are you even thinking about that when you can't sit up?"

"Well we do have to." Keith tugged Tana down to sit next to him. "Do you have to leave?"

"I can stay until almost morning." Mirta said. And she did.

With everything on her mind, and enjoying feeling well for the first time in days, Mirta thought she'd spend the dawn hours alone in her room worrying. But she dozed off right away, dreamed that nymphs were purple because someone painted town hall, and woke to morning sunshine and the voices of her friends in the hall.

"It was posing as a teacher." Katy's voice said faintly, "And I was about to catch him messing with Princess Bloom, so he blasted me and I was stuck in the infirmary. So that's why I wasn't on Velka with the others to meet you."

Mirta considered. She was wearing a hospital nightgown, but it was cloth and Orion had already seen her in it. "I'm awake, you can come in."

Orion greeted her with, "Good morning. Is your school always that interesting?"

"Usually."

Katy, in her little cat form, was draped over Orion's shoulder. "Hi! I'm here to protect you!"

Hexen meowed at them and obligingly vanished under the bed.

"So what was it, pretending to be your teacher?"

Mirta tried to remember. "Professor Palladium told us... some kind of djinn I think. Hang on, I have to look sick." She opened her wings and layered on illusion of pale skin, lank hair, and circles under her eyes. And the wing bandage too. There was no way she was putting the real one back on; it was _slimy_ inside. She fiddled with it until Orion said, "That's about right."

"Ugh, you look like a zombie." Katy crammed herself into Mirta's lap and Mirta absentmindedly petted her.

"Katy, do you have enough magic to change?"

"Barely. We've been mostly sleeping all this time, and watching about ourselves on TV. It's pretty cool. So what's with the creepy dark magic coffin?"

Orion shook his head, "Well. Whoever made it was kind enough to label it, but then it was buried under a rockslide and now it says, 'here lies something, betrayer of something, whose crimes were something, sentenced to something until the end of time.'"

"So there's a dead guy inside?"

"Or not so dead. Heard of the eternal sleep spell?"

"Whoa, you mean it might _wake up_?"

"That's what Mom and the witches from the guild-" He stopped. Clacking footsteps were coming down the hall and Mirta had tensed.

Doctor Annis stepped into the room and paused at the sight of the visitor. Orion gave her a very innocent smile.

Mirta briefly worried: her wing looked damaged but if the doctor touched it-

But she just glanced at her chart for a long minute, set her face like she was making a decision, and said, "Good morning Mirta. I'm afraid there's something serious we need to discuss. Could your friend wait outside?"

Mirta was suddenly, quite needlessly, scared. "He can stay."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Well. It's." The doctor was clearly uncomfortable with an audience. She plunged ahead, "Well. I've gotten the last test results back and I'm afraid the damage was worse than we thought. It looks like the only remaining option is to amputate your wings."

Mirta burst into tears.

She'd _meant_ to burst into tears, of course, it had been part of the plan, but she hadn't expected it to actually happen. In her lap, Katy's fur puffed and she flicked her ears nervously.

The doctor looked—shocked. She actually gaped, then struggled to regain her composure. "Heavens! You'll still be able to fly. And you'll be like other witches again."

Mirta was stunned. Katy wasn't. She leaped, surging into her enchantix form and snarling. Doctor Annis fell back against the wall.

"Katy!" Mirta yelped.

"Sorry, lost my temper!" Katy said cheerfully. "You want to ask her things?"

"Um."

"Or I could."  
Mirta managed a deep breath, got control oh herself, and dropped the illusion. She stood up, putting a calming hand on Katy's furry shoulder. "You—messed up my medicine so my wing wouldn't get better didn't you?"

"It's—it's no loss for a witch! You didn't have to be a freak!"

"You didn't ask me."

"But you—you can't _want_ to look like a fairy!"

"You didn't ask!"

Next to her Orion said, "You have to ask. It's part of the Healer's Oath, you can't have forgotten the Oath, it's on the wall downstairs in big gold letters. Also, the head of the healers' guild has been listening to this."

The doctor's face went ashen. She started to babble something in her defense, first to Mirta, then to the three very official looking people who appeared in the doorway. One of them, who might have been the head of the hospital, bowed to Mirta and gave some big official sounding apologies and guaranteed an investigation, and that was good but Mirta just wanted to leave.

They got away, eventually, Orion to his hotel to sleep after being up all night, Katy and Mirta to Alfea. Mirta just wanted to be home, in her own room with her own clothes and her own cat and nobody coming to bother her and feed her potions. Everyone was happy to see her, Karina and Ortensia cheered and Bloom hugged her. Miss Faragonda said, "My dear, I am so sorry! I should have visited but we were-"

"Busy taking care of Valtor." Bloom finished.

"You did it? You won?"

"Mmhm!"

"Oh that is so great..." Mirta thought of something, and her joy cooled, "your parents?"

Bloom's smile faded and she shook her head. "I know they're alive, but I still don't know where."

"What about the Trix?"

Miuss Faragonda chuckled. "Light Haven was less than thrilled to have them back."

"Maybe it'll work this time. They could become nice, remember Flora's amorphus potion..." Bloom sounded hopeful, but...

"I bet not."

"Yeah, probably not. But at least they won't be able to ruin graduation!"

"Graduation!" Mirta had almost forgotten. "Miss F, I failed at my project! With everything that happened..."

"You helped defeat a great evil and rescue an entire civilization. That's a perfectly valid graduating thesis."

"Yes!" Mirta whooped, and Bloom and the headmistress laughed.


	23. Chapter 23

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 23

At the front of the room Professor Palladium wrote out a fiendishly complicated potion recipe. He turned back to the class. "Now, before we start on intelligence enhancing potions, Miss Grizelda asked me to mention some intelligence _lowering_ potions. Some of them are quite easy to get."

He put a bottle on his desk. The class tittered. Karina said, "Um, professor, that's not a potion. It's beer."

"But drinking it will lower your intelligence temporarily—permanently if you drink too much. Also beer is not allowed in school, which is why this is empty. Now, on to the day's brew! We start with half a cup of fire orchid nectar..."

Mirta spared a thought to being grateful she hadn't had to collect the nectar, then went back to being distracted by, well, everything else.

The refugees were getting out of the hospital one by one, moving into the big hotels in the city. Most of the big realms had sent money and gifts, and Mirta had spent last night helping Stella hand out goods from Solaria—used clothes, but good quality. It was fun watching people try on the first good clothes they'd ever owned. Keith's sisters, for all they were adults and one of them was a mother already, had chosen matching dresses and danced around, towing a laughing Tana between them.

Tana seemed to be a member of the family, an adopted fifth sister. She was always around. And Keith was so used to looking after her that he couldn't seem to stop. Mirta tried to be patient about it.

The big question was where the new arrivals should live. Most of them were a little overwhelmed by the city of Magix. And the mayor of the city wasn't sure it was best to have almost a thousand people who didn't know how to live with advanced technology and magic move in. It had been decided that the refugees should move to a colony realm where they could start a new town and move into the modern world at a slower pace.

"You should come." Keith had said. "Wherever we go, you should come too. I don't want to be the only magic user, and I really want the second one to be you."

"I bet all your sisters turn out to be fairies, and Tana could transform now except that she can't see."

"I still want you to come. You could be a princess."

Mirta considered it, while she mixed and strained and heated ingredients. Maybe an intelligence enhancing potion would make her smart enough to know if she wanted to go home and join the family potion shop or go build a new civilization with her... love?

She poured the potion through the last strainer and funnel into the bottle. It was milky white and smelled like orange blossoms. Which was what it was supposed to look and smell like. Mirta had been so distracted she was a little surprised she'd gotten everything right. Professor Palladium reminded them to let their potions sit overnight before drinking, and not to drink them before a test unless they wanted to be disqualified.

It was barely spring, and still cold, but half the class seemed to know what they were doing after graduation. Selene had been accepted into the police academy. Lolina had a job in a shop lined up, until something better came along. Alice decided to stay with the dragon another year—she was doing useful work, close to her family, and Jared was going to move in to help get rid of pesky dragonslayers. Priscilla applied to become guardian fairy of Linphea, but she didn't really expect to be chosen. Being a plant fairy meant she could get a job for anyone who wanted their gardens to look good, so she didn't have to worry about unemployment. Katy did, though. She was determined to get a 'good job,' working for royalty or something where she could 'really use her talents.' Mirta wasn't quite sure what she meant by this, but there had been plenty of offers Katy liked... none of which would hire her with Tabby along. Which wasn't fair, since Tabby was getting more human day by day. Once she'd realized that books were full of the same kind of stories Katy told every night she went at learning to read with intensity she usually reserved for food.

Tabby was going to be all right. Mirta wasn't sure about Katy, if she had to choose between her ward and her dream.

And Lucy...

Mirta was headed to her last class when Ortensia rushed past her towards Miss Faragonda's office. She whirled, her hat levitating, "It's the editor! Of the Magix Herald! Hiring a reporter! What time's tonight?"

"Curtain up at seven. Now go get the job!"

"Thanks!" Ortensia waved her hat and dashed off.

Mirta smiled. Everyone wanted to come tonight, even the teachers. It was amazing.

That evening she settled into her seat in the theater between Keith and Lolina. There were a lot of fairies in the audience, and a bunch of boys in both blue and black uniforms. There were even a few witches—Miss Griffin, and Ediltrude and Zarathustra. And there was Shilly with her family, and Zia and her best friend.

Mirta craned her head around, counting familiar faces.

Keith laughed. "Sit down, you look like a tourist."

Mirta took one last look. "Your family looks confused, all of them."

"We didn't have anything like this before. I tried to explain the story..."

The lights dimmed, and they had to be quiet. Music began, first a single flute then swelling into bright crashing chords as the dancers exploded across the stage. A man with a flashing sword, a man in armor, a man in wizard's robes. Then a girl with purple fabric wings, a girl with long red hair—and Lucy, dressed in shimmering silver and black, her hair washed with purple glitter.

The Company of Light bowed and leaped out of sight. A spotlight came up on a narrator in the middle of the stage. "The realm of Domino, the Great Dragon's chosen world, lay warm and peaceful in the summer sun..."

Lucy danced flawlessly. She sparkled, her hair swirling perfectly behind her. The best scene was the one in which Miss Griffin decided to leave the ancestor witches. Lucy moved like she was really uncertain, tempted to return to the witches until the last moment when she joined hands with the fairy playing Miss Faragonda.

Mirta clapped until her hands ached.

Jess had actually brought flowers, and magiced them to float onto the stage. He wasn't the only one; the fairies playing Queen Marion and Miss Faragonda got a lot.

The audience trickled out into the chilly night. Keith tried to walk Mirta out, but any romance was spoiled by his sister Spring who wanted to know everything about ballet right now. Mirta tried to answer her questions, wishing _she'd_ listened better when Lucy talked about dancing.

They finally escaped, Mirta shaking her head and smiling. "Your sisters are great."

"Oh I know." Keith said, "Dawn just wants a house, I think Ember wants to move into the zoo, Skye said she plans to get rich. And Spring—dancing? Who knows, maybe she'll be good at it."

"How's Tana?"

"Complaining her eyes aren't getting better fast enough, but she can tell colors now. I think she really will get all her sight back. Mom bought her a set of paints."

Keith offered his arm and Mirta took it and they leaned on each other, happy in the crowd of happy people but with a distance between them.

At dinner the next day Katy grabbed Mirta, "You, me, job!"

This was the first job offer Mirta had gotten, and she wasn't sure what to expect. Nobody else had been interested in hiring a witch.

A young man and woman, both with curly brown hair and both dressed in velvet and gold, were sitting in chairs in Miss Faragonda's office. Hexen and Tabby, in her kitten shape, had both climbed into the woman's lap and she was petting them with a smile of childlike delight on her face. The young man stood and bowed to them as they entered.

He _radiated _royalty. Katy curtseyed and Mirta bowed.

"I'm Katy, this is Mirta. Nice to meet you, your... highness?"

"Majesty. King Ansel of Delane. This is the queen, my sister Amelia."

Amelia looked up to smile at them, and something about her smile was not quite right, not quite focused.

"Sister?" Katy couldn't resist asking.

The young king motioned them to sit. "Long story: We had a king who chased the maids and ignored his wife, a queen who fell in love with someone else and nearly broke up the kingdom, and then a king who preferred men. After three generations of that the senate decided the political situation shouldn't rest on one marriage. We have an elected monarchy now. The two of us ran together."

Suddenly Amelia pointed at Katy, "Kitty!"

Katy smiled, but cast her brother a questioning look.

"Ah. That is the problem that brings me here. My sister is under a curse, and we need help."

Amelia nodded somberly.

Mirta shifted her eyes to get a look at the curse and winced. It was a _nasty_ spell, to take thoughts and twist them back on themselves. It was impressive than Ameila could talk at all. "We can't break that."

"No, nobody can but the person who cast it—who is currently blackmailing me. I need someone to take care of my sister, keep her from wandering off, make sure she wears a coat, hang around at official functions, and help take care of the cats. Amelia has brought home most of the city's strays to take care of, and it's getting a little chaotic. I'm trying to keep the number in the palace down to nine or ten."

"Or eleven twelve thirteen." His sister said slyly.

"Yes I know about the kittens in your closet. We'll find them good homes, in someone _else's_ homes."

Mirta and Katy looked at each other. Katy smiled. "That must be a fun palace."

Ansel went on, "I also need someone to spy on the senators. One of them is probably behind the curse. I've been getting notes saying the curse will be broken next midwinter if I follow instructions—the last instruction will probably be to step down in favor of another political party, ruining everything the two of us have been trying to do since we were crowned. There's a lot at stake, more than just the two of us, and we really need someone we can trust."

Katy said, "Mirta..?"

"I think this is your job Katy. You'd make a great spy in a palace full of cats."

Katy shifted, meowed, and changed back. "The little black one too. Tabby, are you dressed? Change and say hello."

Tabby jumped off Amelia's lap and turned human. Amelia squealed with delight. Tabby said, "Hello!" and looked around trying to think what else to say, then gave up and shifted back, more interested in cuddling up to Amelia than talking.

"Tabby is my ward. I'd like to come work for you, your majesties, but I have to take care of her. I think we could manage though. Tabby's... she goes to school, she won't make too much trouble." Katy really, really wanted this job.

King Ansel looked a little startled by the shapeshifting, then began to smile. "What do you think?" He asked his sister.

"I like them. Pick them!"

Miss Faragonda's reference was probably more important than Amelia's approval, just now, but Ansel nodded.

Mirta knew when to exit. She promised to keep this conversation secret, bowed, and left Ansel and Katy shaking hands and discussing appropriate pay for a nursemaid/spy who also got to live in a palace.

It all sounded great. For Katy. Mirta, who still wasn't sure what she wanted to do next in her life, allowed herself a moment of jealousy. Everything was supposed to go _smoothly_ after you won, not be all confused and uncertain and not knowing if you loved your boyfriend or not.

"Mirta?"

Mirta looked, then had to look down. Professor Wizgiz was at least a foot shorter than she was. "What's up, Professor?"

"I've been meaning to catch you. Do you have any plans for after graduation?"

Mirta made a face.

"That good huh? Well I have another option: work here."

"Here? Alfea? For who?"

"All the teachers. You could grade papers, mix potions, even give lectures if you wanted to. Miss Faragonda also mentioned new students might be likely to confide in a teacher closer to their age, and it would be nice to have someone who could... help out in emergencies, since the Winx will presumably be returning to their home realms."

Mirta blinked. She hadn't actually thought of that, but it was a good point. None of the second-years had the power of Bloom and her friends. Of course _Mirta _didn't, either...

"And you want to hire me?"

"A unanimous nomination by the entire faculty! It would not be a very well paying job, but would include room and board and all the classes you want to sit in on. Might be a good first job."

"I... I'll think about it. Thanks, Professor." Mirta said, still a little stunned. Unanimous? All the teachers? Even Grizelda? And it sounded like a good job. Except the part about speaking in front of a whole class of fairies, which sounded terrifying, but that might be optional.

And if she didn't go with Keith.

She got back to her room to find Hexen meowing for a treat, which he got, and as she sat down to face the homework, a tiny rap on the door. She opened it to find herself face to face with Amore, who smiled and said, "Oh! It must be you who's got a broken heart. Or at least a confused one." 

"Definitely confused, Amore. Come in. Can you always tell?"

"Of course! I am the pixie of love after all."

This was mildly fascinating. "Can you tell me what to do, then? I can't exactly follow my heart if it's all confused. Or I don't like what... can you just magic up a soulmate blossom for something for me so I'd know?"

Mirta sat in the window, and Amore landed on her knees. Outside the day's clouds were breaking up, revealing a full spring moon. Mirta's wings tugged inside her back. It would be a nice night for flying, cold and clear.

"Why is your heart confusing you?" Amore asked, her chirping voice gentle.

"It's just... you'd better not tell Stella about this... it used to be perfect and we were in love, but then... Keith used us. It was for a good reason, I would've helped anyway, but he didn't tell us anything, and he was friends with us just so we'd help with a spell, and then he pulled our magic out and didn't warn us first, and the worst part is Keith wasn't lying, he really loves me and really likes all his friends but he still did all that. And I can't feel the same now, I want to but I just... don't. And I don't think Keith does, either. He didn't say it, he can't anyway since his family's always around which also isn't the problem but..."

Amore nodded like she understood, which was more than Mirta did. She waved her tiny hands and sparkles trailed from her fingers. "This is your love."

It wasn't a flower, just a little sprout. Mirta cupped her hands around it, magic humming against her skin. "I get it—this little sprout could grow into a beautiful flower if we tend it."

"Yes! Exactly. It's your choice which flower will grow."

"Are there other ones?"

"Of course! These!" Amore touched the glass and, outside, a thousand flowers appeared. They floated, glowing, in the air. Each one was different, and beautiful.

Mirta gaped. "That—wow—those are?"

Amore giggled at her reaction.

"Does everyone have that many?"

"Of course!" Amore said again. "Some people more than others, and some people have a single soulmate who will be their _best_ partner, but anyone can fall in love again."

The next few weeks, as the weather warmed and the excitement of graduation grew, Mirta tried to listen to her heart. But in the end Keith called her. They met in the park. The trees were in full bloom and it was almost painfully romantic.

They walked for a while in silence then Keith said, "You're not coming with us are you?"

"...no." Mirta said. "I want to stay in the city. And... you were right before, when you said everything would change."

"I know. I wish it hadn't. Actually, if it wouldn't make me look like a total fool I'd try to pretend... but that won't work. You know, if you ever want to try again, or just need a place to live, you know where to find us."

Mirta couldn't help smiling a little at that.

"And I am sorry. About everything. You know that right? I should've told you, and everyone. It was so important I got scared, I did things wrong."

Mirta shook her head, "It _was_ important, I can't really blame you. I just don't..."

They looked at each other.

"I wish I still did."

"I wish I still did, too."

And whatever had been between them, love or guilt, fell away.

Keith smiled suddenly. "Well, I hope you won't mind if I reappear to rescue you, if I'm ever in the neighborhood when danger strikes."

"Oh, if I'm in danger you are so very welcome to rescue me!"

"Good. What about the dance after graduation? Sterling is going and Jess is sneaking in to dance with Donovan."

"Let's... dance with everyone. Bring your sisters!" Mirta added on impulse.

"Let's. We should have fun. We won, after all." Keith grinned.

He was still so, so handsome, and memory tugged like undertow, and it hurt... but Mirta hadn't expected having a broken heart to make her feel so much lighter.

A voice rang through the room, "Hello! Anybody here?"

"Alice!" Lolina shrieked, running to hug her friend, "You're here! Did you bring the red dragon?"

"She's not allowed out of her daddy's sight until she's bigger. I have to go back day after tomorrow, but at least I got to come. I wish Kimmy could've been here."

"Aw, Kimmy's having fun. It's no time to be sad—we're graduating today!"

"Right, right. On to the important question: what are you all wearing to the dance tonight?"

That was the main question under consideration in the room, where everyone's wardrobes were spread out over every surface. It needed to be the right outfit: stylish, celebratory, regal, but with room to dance in. Mirta had been planning to wear the brown dress she'd bought for the beginning-of-year mixer, but her friends informed her that was _just not done_. But Alice had brought an entire trunk of clothes, and her regular outfits were nice enough to wear dancing so Mirta found herself well supplied. She whisked a creamy silk blouse away from Tabby, who was eyeing it and kneading her hands. "No claws! Either of you." She added to her cat, as Alice hastened to pack everything away again. They had to graduate first, and that could be done wearing normal clothes.

They joined the rest of the school in the courtyard. It was the first really warm day of summer, and the sky was bright and clear. The new guardian fairies were announced first: all the Winx, to nobody's surprise. Priscilla didn't even pretend she'd expected to be chosen.

Then the rest of them crossed the stage to get their jewel boxes from Miss Faragonda. Mirta's was covered in grape-purple amethysts. Here actual diploma would be inside, and everyone was supposed to have a special note with a clue to their destiny.

After everyone had theirs, which took about forever even if Galatea was playing nice music while they waited, Miss Faragonda held up her hands, "All right, you may open your boxes!"

The audience, everyone's parents and guests, cheered. The boxes let off magical fireworks as they were opened, startling the first few fairies who tried. Then everyone was reading their notes and cheering or laughing or yelling.

Mirta opened here box carefully and took out her note. It said, "You will be the next headmistress of Cloud Tower." Mirta burst out laughing. This was definitely a prank, she could even see where the original words had been erased. But that was all right. She didn't mind.

And then Mirta realized why she didn't mind, and that felt like a revelation, like it was the real message.

_She wanted to figure out her own destiny._

Then there was celebration, and hugging her parents and waving her diploma around and then getting ready for the dance. The parents were invited too, which was going to be pretty embarrassing for a few graduates!

As the sun set and the refreshments committee magicked in the food, people started drifting onto the dance floor.

Selene, in her sequined dress with her shiny new police academy badge pinned to it, was introducing Sterling to her parents. Jess had indeed sneaked in, and he and Lolina waltzed melodramatically to the tuneless plunks of the musicians tuning their instruments. Mirta saw her own parents chatting with—wasn't that Orion's mother Starria? Who probably liked witches as little as Mirta's mother liked fairies. Yikes.

Mirta was about to go interrupt when Katy popped up beside her. "Your friend is nuts. I like him." She pointed.

Orion had lifted Tabby up on his shoulders so the little girl could dance with Professor Palladium. She was having a great time.

"Poor guy, his back will hurt worse than his dignity."

Mirta winced in sympathy; Tabby was pretty little but she wasn't _that_ light. "Dance with him later ok?"

"I am going to dance with _everyone_!" Katy proclaimed. "It's a magic night. Even Faragonda has a date!"

Mirta hadn't known. "Seriously?"

"Some guy with a beard. And Alice and Jared are making lovey faces at each other and there's Priscilla. Hey, over here! Let's dance! We won, after all!"

"We won." Mirta repeated, smiling.

And the music began.


	24. Chapter 24

Mirta Story by Cupcakedoll. Characters belong to Mr. Straffi, Rainbow, Nickelodeon, and whoever else.

Part 24

The Magix midsummer festival was a new holiday, suggested by immigrants from the realm of the Sunborn Isles. It had been a small festival until a wizard decided everyone should dress like they were from the Sunbornm Isles, and invented a spell to print fabric with any design you wanted.

Which was why Mirta was wearing a summer kimono printed with pumpkins, cauldrons, bats and stars. She thought it was great.

The big ceremony this year, along with the fireworks, was the unveiling of the new statue of the Winx, saviors of Domino. An old tree in the big city park had died and they'd decided to put the statue in the space it had left.

Mirta had had a chaotic morning, sleeping in and then taking twice as long at breakfast because Vecta and Anjita had asked for last-minute help with their potions homework. Anjita was _definitely_ going to blow up the potions lab before the year was over.

As she got off the bus, cat trailing behind her, her phone rang. Orion, wanting to hear the news.

"It was just giant bugs." Mirta assured him as she stepped off the bus, "The scariest thing was when my teacher yelled at me—I wasn't thinking and tried a witch spell. Angry Wizgiz was scarier than the monster! After that I was just keeping the first-years out of the way while Professor Avalon kept the bugs off us."

"The paladin? You saw a paladin fight? I heard they have powers like..."

"His sword was on fire. Seriously." Mirta said, remembering. "I'll tell you all about it later. Where are you?"

"Port. Waiting for our bags." Orion said, "The mystic sages didn't know anything about the cursed sarcophagus, but the trip wasn't a total waste, I got material for lots more lectures on dangerous magical artifacts."

Mirta laughed. Across the street she saw Selene, easy to spot in her blue uniform, and Priscilla. She waved. "We're all at the festival. Come over!"

"Ok, I'll catch up before the fireworks."

They hung up, and Mirta and Hexen crossed the street. Priscilla's kimono was plain leaf green. Lolina's was an eye-searing orange patterned with interlocking circles.

"Hi guys! Hi officer Selene!"

Selene, in uniform, made a face. "I'm not allowed to eat on duty! All these snacks!"

"I'll buy you some." Lolina offered, and arrangements were made, and Selene had to leave because she was on duty with her partner, and had to keep moving to watch the crowd.

There was a crowd, most of the city seemed to be here and dressed up. The trees shaded the park, and lines of stalls sold exotic-smelling food or trinkets or had games you could play. Hexen headed straight for the one giving away goldfish as prizes, and Mirta had to run and grab him. Hexen meowed a protest as he was hauled away.

"You had breakfast, and you have plenty of fish to chase at home!"

"Me-yowr!"

"Yeah yeah..."

But Hexen tapped her face with a paw. He was looking at... Shilly? Shilly, looking weirdly shy. And following them. Mirta looked straight at her and Shilly reluctantly sidled up.

"What's up Shilly?"

"Can we _not_ be seen with your fairy friends?"

A glance around revealed the fairies at a food booth. Mirta sighed. "I think your reputation's safe."

"This is embarrassing enough. Can I talk to you?"

"Sure. But if it's about Brandon, I'm leaving." Mirta waved to her friends, and she and Hexen followed Shilly away from the crowd, over by the new statue. Shilly looked around again, to make really sure nobody was around. Even for a witch, this was pretty paranoid, and Mirta watched her with eyebrows raised.

"I'm going to Earth next year and-"

"What? Why?" Mirta blurted, totally confused.

"Miss Griffin saw something in a magic mirror. I can't tell you what. But a witch should be there to... look, I'll tell you about it after."

Mirta filed this under 'annoyingly mysterious.' "I don't really know about Earth, Bloom doesn't talk about it all that much."

"Oh, I could ask Bloom that. I wanted to ask how you... changed. You're not like the rest of the witches."

"You want to know how I got my wings?"

"Don't look so shocked, _I _don't want wings, I just want to know. I've been talking to some Earth people on the internet and they're kind of... nice. I don't want to be... well, the way we always are just wouldn't work."

There was more to it, there had to be. But Shilly sounded serious, about whatever it was. Hexen, standing between them, looked from one witch to the other as Mirta tried to think what to say. How _had _she done it? "I just... sorry, this is very fairyish, I just believed I didn't have to be what everyone expects. It's like I never thought of it before, that I could be anything I wanted. And then when I realized the magic just... followed my feelings."

"That's dumb." Shilly said. "We can already do whatever we want—we're witches, we're powerful! We can take down anyone who gets in our way!"

Mirta pointed at the big obvious statue. "Yeah, that's what the ancestors thought and now they're dead with their realm blasted into a million pieces. Anyway you can't really think that's the best way or you wouldn't be asking me."

"I just don't want to be... but I'm a witch!"

"That doesn't mean you have to take advantage of people—you can decide what kind of person to be. Believe it!"

Shilly made a disgusted sound, then looked thoughtful. "You mean..." Purple sparks began to swarm over her hair and her clothes. She was sparkling all over, laughing in startled delight as she lifted off the ground.

Mirta gaped. Hexen trilled joyfully.

Suddenly realizing what was happening, Shilly made an angry squawk and grabbed Mirta's arm—and magic flooded over her. Mirta wasn't sure what this was, but she didn't care. Power was flowing over her wings like rain and it felt wonderful. Then the magic flickered out and put them down.

Shilly's wings were smoke-gray and spiky, and her clothes were purple leather and black netting. She looked down, looked back at her wings and shrieked, "Eek! What! I didn't mean—not here! How do I change back?!"

"Um..." Mirta was a little distracted. Her wings had grown. Her wings had grown and could feel a lot more of the air and breezes and it was a lot of information suddenly and her clothes were different and she was wearing a funny little scarf around her waist and what had just _happened_?

Priscilla's voice said, "Push your wings down and think that you want to change back. Also, the cat is glowing."

Mirta woke up. "Hex!"

He was glowing. He chirruped a long sentence in cat talk and carefully set his front paws on the ground. A big purple jewel appeared between them.

Lolina said, "No way. What is that?"

Mirta was more concerned about her pet. But Hexen had stopped glowing and turned to lick his tail fur into place, apparently done being magical for now. "Hex, you ok?"

"Mrrt." Hexen said, which meant nothing without Katy to translate, but sounded reassuring anyway. Mirta held her hand over the strange jewel and felt its magic. It was weird, a funny structure.

"Hologram." Priscilla said.

"You think?"

Well if it was, a little energy should get it going. Mirta sent some. The jewel flickered, lit up, and unfolded like a shining flower. Everyone scooted back as the hologram bloomed to life.

Two women appeared, standing back to back, their hair and dresses swirling together like paint in water. The fairy had brown skin and a halo of sable hair, and wings the pink-and-orange color of sunrise. The witch was pale and painted with shadows, dressed in the night sky. Her crown and the clasp of her cape were an intertwined moon and star design.

She was familiar. It was the purple nymph! Mirta gabbled something. Priscilla, more practical, ordered everyone to get their phones out and start recording.

The hologram shimmered and the two women turned to face the viewers. "We who speak to you are the leaders of our people in the war against the deepest darkness. We record here the true events of the building of the city of magic, a story we fear is about to be... lost."

The fairy said, "When the deepest dark attacked the living world, the civilized realms called on all magic users to face the threat. They became two armies, one to fight, one to build an invincible fortress city where the fighters could find safety and healing."

"And we did fight." the witch said, her voice weary. "Across a thousand worlds and into the depths of space. Anywhere evil could exist, we fought. One by one we gave up our beautiful wings, traded them for the power to protect one more land, or one more person. At last the spell was invented that banished the deepest darkness from the worlds forevermore.

"And the army of battle, weary beyond imagining, at last came home to the city that had been prepared for us."

Shilly whispered furiously, but nobody was listening.

The fairy continued, "But when the army arrived at our gates, unfamiliar and broken and smelling of battle and dark magic, we were frightened. To our shame, we barred the gates against them!"

"Rejected by the place built to welcome us and the people we had given so much to protect, the army of battle despaired. And then three soldiers began to speak to the people, saying we were stronger than those chosen to build instead of fight, and we should conquer our own people and claim the city as our due! To our shame, the army listened to their words and we invaded the city of magic."

The figures paused, heads down in shame, and Mirta became aware that there were a lot of people behind her, watching. Shilly hissed, "Is this real?" and Mirta could only shrug.

The fairy continued, "With time and many compromises the armies have come to a tentative peace. But Belladonna and her sisters have a great following and still try to persuade the wingless that their strength makes them superior and they should rule over others."

Priscilla said, "The witches are going to _flip_ if they ever-"

But a lot of witches, in the festival crowd, had already heard. And about now they started whispering and rustling. Mirta, half-hypnotized by the hologram's words, suddenly realized they had a large, confused, angry audience.

She missed a few words, then the witch finished, "...we, all of us, are to blame. This is the truth of it. I leave this record with my familiar who will carry it into the future, beyond Belladonna's tales." They looked at each other , nodded slightly, and the hologram faded.

Now people were yelling. Mirta grabbed the purple stone and readied a shield spell just in case. Shilly, back in her street clothes, hid behind Mirta.

"Well now that we're the center of attention..." Lolina singsonged.

Then, "All right, first one to cast anything is under arrest!" and there was Selene's partner, a big woman in a neat uniform, and Selene.

Selene said, "What _was_ that?"

Mirta shook her head, unable to form an answer.

"I don't know, it just appeared..." Lolina tried.

Priscilla nudged Mirta and said, "We should turn this message over to the police to make sure it's real. The headmistresses should be able to tell. Then if it's real it can be broadcast on TV."

Mirta handed the jewel to Selene, who flew off with it. The crowd started to drift back towards the festival booths. Mirta got up from the ground with one beat of her new wings, and pulled Priscilla and Shilly to their feet.

"No _way_." Shilly said.

People were still saying 'fake' and 'couldn't be real' and 'student trick' but that didn't matter. It was real. Mirta could _feel_ that it was. And her quest was over, she knew how it had started between the witches and the fairies. It was so sudden it was hard to really feel it. Hexen rubbed against her ankles, and Mirta picked him up.

"It was Shilly, it turned on when Shilly transformed. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Not like I know any witches to tell." Priscilla added.

"If that's true, then witches are fairies anyway."

"_I'm_ not a fairy!" Shilly and Mirta said together.

"Um, Mirta, you look even more like a fairy than before. Did you even notice your clothes changed?"

Everything had happened so fast. Mirta looked down at herself, around the cat. Her skirt had turned into shorts with a weird scarf wrapped halfway around her waist, and her top had shrunk. But the most important part— "I'm not pink anymore! This is so much better!" The new outfit was a nice, rich pumpkin orange.

"Please tell me you didn't enchantix up like a fairy." Shilly said.

That was a good question. Mirta changed back into her festival kimono. "I don't think so... my clothes changed at the same time yours did, maybe they're connected. Maybe Miss F will know."

The hologram was declared genuine by both headmistresses, the archaeologists' guild, and the mayor. It played on television on every channel, and all sorts of scholars and historians came on to have opinions about it.

It didn't really change anything. The witches' opinion, at least the example provided by Zia, was, "Who cares what happened a million years ago, fairies are annoying wimps _now_!"

But maybe things would change slowly. Maybe more witches would get their wings back. Lucy didn't seem to want to, but Zia had looked very thoughtful.

Mirta was watching yet another ancient scholar on television, and sending messages back and forth with Orion. He was stuck in the museum labeling artifacts, and Mirta was stuck at Alfea grading papers, both boring tasks that allowed them to carry on a conversation.

_Miss F says my new transformation looks like a fairy form called Believix. But isn't, because I'm a witch. Discorda is going to check the witch books for any mention of random transformations. Maybe I'll get to be famous for inventing it! _

Orion sent back, _Will you get to make up a name?_

_I guess._

After a few minutes the reply came, _Well it's an ancient power so how about "Ancientix" pronounced just like... =) =) =)_

Mirta burst out laughing. Hexen, sleeping on her desk, opened one eye then closed it again. _Ha! Maybe. Must go- message coming in._

The message turned out to be a big video file. Lolina and Priscilla, who were staying at Alfea until they found apartments, had got the message too and turned up to watch it on the big screen. Mirta switched the TV over.

It was from Keith.

He waved at the camera, said the inevitable, "Is it on?" then, "Hi everybody! You should all be getting a copy of this, Katy's might be late since I haven't got her new address. I wanted to show you all around the new town. It doesn't have a name yet because they wanted to name it after me and I do not have an appropriately townlike name, so we're still trying to think of something."

"Send suggestions." said a female voice; one of Keith's sisters, operating the camera.

"Hush. But we do have..." he waved at things and the camera swung around to look at them. "Houses! At least, a few houses. Two stores! A ship landing area that's going to be a real port someday. We even have streetlights, but I have to light them. I'm also doing most of the building. That's the problem with having enough magic to lift heavy things all day—people expect you to lift heavy things, all day."

Whoever was holding the camera laughed.

"We also have our very own fairy!" Tana, laughing, was pushed into the shot. Her wings glowed a pale peridot green as she twirled on the dusty, unpaved street. She looked straight at the camera with clear blue eyes before waving at them and ducking away.

Keith continued, "There's also some fields and orchards and cows and a protein vat, but you don't want to see the boring stuff. Follow me! Here's the thing we're really proud of. Every town needs a town hall, especially since we're still inventing a government."

"I still think you should be king." Said whichever sister was holding the camera.

Keith turned to give them all a look. "It's very creepy when people older than you start saying that. I miss you guys. Anyway! Take a look!"

The camera panned up. There was the traditional carving of the fairy of justice and the nymphs, for justice and mercy, and underneath was a second frieze. Of them.

Priscilla gasped and Lolina made a little noise of delight. It was a _good_ carving, their faces smooth and calm, everyone identified by face shape and hair style. Mirta's face even had her hair beads.

Mirta found herself laughing a little. It was wonderful.

The image lingered on each face, then swung down to Keith.

"So that's how we're all going to go down in history."

He bowed to them, and the video ended.

"That's..." Priscilla hunted for a word, "That's... not bad."

"We're famous _forever_!"

Mirta felt.. it was like being Bloom, like they'd _made_ it, they'd become real heroes. It was like standing on top of the sky.


End file.
